Star Wars: The Old Republic F2P Restrictions Lessened

Bioware has announced that it will slightly loosen the restrictions facing free-to-play accounts due to "community and internal feedback".

In a post on the game's forums, lead designer Damion Schubert explained that changes would be made to the originally announced restrictions after they generated a mixed reaction.

“

It is important conversely that the subscription offers subscribers strong, tangible benefits over the Free-to-Play experience. We value our subscribers greatly, and they are crucial to the success of Star Wars: the Old Republic.

As a result, free-to-play players will now get a second quickslot bar, as well as the ability to run five Warzones each week. Under the original restrictions, there was no second bar for free-to-play accounts and only three Warzone battles could be played every seven days.

Schubert went on to address the worry that the limitations on Warzones will make queues longer, saying that if anything they should get shorter. He explained, "Our subscriber base likely will not shrink much, and for some of our competitors, converting to Free-to-Play has resulted in a subscriber increase! Which means that Warzone queues should likely see improvement from what you experience in game, and at minimum be relatively unchanged in experience.

"That being said, one of our golden rules is that the Free-to-Play experience should not cheapen the experience for paying subscribers. If it turns out that the Free-to-Play conversion results in a degraded Warzone experience once we go live for subscribers, you can rest assured that we will quickly make adjustments to the system to ensure that subscribers have an optimal experience.

"It is important conversely that the subscription offers subscribers strong, tangible benefits over the Free-to-Play experience. We value our subscribers greatly, and they are crucial to the success of Star Wars: the Old Republic."

Also addressed in the post is the potential for accounts to receive preferred status. Any former subscriber whose account has locked will automatically get preferred status, otherwise any F2P player who makes a single purchase through the game's official site will also have their account upgraded to preferred status.

Preferred status offers a range of benefits, ranging from increased server queue priority and an extra crew skill slot to obtaining the sprint ability at level 1 alongside access to your cargo hold.

No official launch date has been unveiled for the free-to-play option for Star Wars: The Old Republic, but it's expected to be available before the year is out.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant and former SWTOR player. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Star Wars: The Old Republic F2P Restrictions Lessened

Bioware has announced that it will slightly loosen the restrictions facing free-to-play accounts due to "community and internal feedback".

In a post on the game's forums, lead designer Damion Schubert explained that changes would be made to the originally announced restrictions after they generated a mixed reaction.

“

It is important conversely that the subscription offers subscribers strong, tangible benefits over the Free-to-Play experience. We value our subscribers greatly, and they are crucial to the success of Star Wars: the Old Republic.

As a result, free-to-play players will now get a second quickslot bar, as well as the ability to run five Warzones each week. Under the original restrictions, there was no second bar for free-to-play accounts and only three Warzone battles could be played every seven days.

Schubert went on to address the worry that the limitations on Warzones will make queues longer, saying that if anything they should get shorter. He explained, "Our subscriber base likely will not shrink much, and for some of our competitors, converting to Free-to-Play has resulted in a subscriber increase! Which means that Warzone queues should likely see improvement from what you experience in game, and at minimum be relatively unchanged in experience.

"That being said, one of our golden rules is that the Free-to-Play experience should not cheapen the experience for paying subscribers. If it turns out that the Free-to-Play conversion results in a degraded Warzone experience once we go live for subscribers, you can rest assured that we will quickly make adjustments to the system to ensure that subscribers have an optimal experience.

"It is important conversely that the subscription offers subscribers strong, tangible benefits over the Free-to-Play experience. We value our subscribers greatly, and they are crucial to the success of Star Wars: the Old Republic."

Also addressed in the post is the potential for accounts to receive preferred status. Any former subscriber whose account has locked will automatically get preferred status, otherwise any F2P player who makes a single purchase through the game's official site will also have their account upgraded to preferred status.

Preferred status offers a range of benefits, ranging from increased server queue priority and an extra crew skill slot to obtaining the sprint ability at level 1 alongside access to your cargo hold.

No official launch date has been unveiled for the free-to-play option for Star Wars: The Old Republic, but it's expected to be available before the year is out.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant and former SWTOR player. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Community Cast Celebrate Season 4 Debuting... Someday!

If things had gone as originally planned, the Season 4 premiere of Community would be airing tonight on NBC. But last week, the network decided to hold off on bringing the series back, with its actual date as yet undetermined.

While Community fans wait to find out when we'll actually see the Greendale gang, the cast of Community have filmed this new video celebrating their premiere date on October 19th... That won't be on October 19th.

Source : ign[dot]com

Community Cast Celebrate Season 4 Debuting... Someday!

If things had gone as originally planned, the Season 4 premiere of Community would be airing tonight on NBC. But last week, the network decided to hold off on bringing the series back, with its actual date as yet undetermined.

While Community fans wait to find out when we'll actually see the Greendale gang, the cast of Community have filmed this new video celebrating their premiere date on October 19th... That won't be on October 19th.

Source : ign[dot]com

Take IGN On In A Real-Life Medal Of Honor Warfighter Firefight

This is probably the most ridiculously awesome community event we're ever likely to host here at IGN in the UK, so hold tight soldier whilst we give you the sit-rep.

On October 17th, we're hosting a day-long Medal Of Honor Warfighter event with EA and our partner site AskMen and we need a fireteam of four IGN readers to take part. If you're selected, we'll be taking you and three of your mates deep into the British countryside to take part in a four-way Airsoft firefight against a team of AskMen readers, a team of IGN and AskMen editors and a team of former special forces soldiers! You can read about Airsoft here.

You'll be given special training to give you the fighting edge before heading back to Central London to carry on the battle in Medal of Honor Warfighter multiplayer. After all that shooty shooty bang bang action we'll then take you down to the pub to battle it out once more for ultimate glory in a special Medal of Honor pub quiz, with some cool Warfighter prizes up for grabs.

HOW TO REGISTER YOUR INTEREST

To be in with a chance of getting involved in this crazy event you (and your three friends) need to be available from 8am on October 17 until around 10:30pm that night. You need to be able to get yourself to a Central London location (TBC) by 8am on the day and you need to be up for the physical challenge as we expect the day to be quite active. Please ensure you read the terms and conditions on the next page which lay out the health and safety restrictions for the day.

To be in with a chance of taking part simply email UKcomps@IGN.com and tell us your fire-team's code name and why your team should be taken in 25 words or less.

Send your full name, contact number and date of birth with the subject line Warfighter IGN before 1pm on Wednesday October 10 when we'll pick our favourite entry to come along.

This competition is open to UK residents over the age of 18 only with full terms and conditions on the next page.

Source : ign[dot]com

Hero Worship: Darth Vader Still Rules

I’ve got nothing terribly profound to discuss this week, so I wanted to take some time to showcase something that I think has been underserved in the comics community.

Earlier this week, I was pleasantly surprised by the conclusion of Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison, the latest mini-series from Dark Horse Comics to spotlight the beloved Sith Lord in all of his glory. There are tons of Star Wars comics on the market these days, but Ghost Prison is the first in quite some time that captures everything I adore about the franchise. I wouldn’t hesitate to say that the comic did more to push the boundaries of the series than any of the sequels/prequels, save Empire Strikes Back.

Check our reviews for Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison!

Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison is set months after Episode III as the Empire has taken hold of the galaxy and have begun to expand radically, training recruits at a rapid pace. The story centers around an Imperial cadet named Tohm that finds himself in the midst of rebellion and soon, fighting by Vader’s side. The story that ensues is not the typical Star Wars tale of black-and-white morality but instead a complex and tragic exploration of an average man’s loyalty to his leaders.

And though Tohm is in the spotlight, this series serves to underscore the ruthlessness of Darth Vader that we really only ever hear about in the films. By the story’s conclusion, we’re given a new appreciation for the coldness of Vader’s character that, after decades of exposure and perhaps even overuse, we have started to forget.

While I’m a fan of the prequels, they don’t do much in the way of showcasing Vader’s assistance in constructing the Empire. By the time we get to Vader in A New Hope, he’s more or less Tarkin’s lackey. And when Return of the Jedi rolls around, the series has shifted to portray Vader as a far more sympathetic character. Only in Empire do we see Vader as a true villain that transcends his cool look and becomes something terrifying. But most of his horrible past deeds are done off screen.

I’ve never really found myself reading licensed comics for anything other than continuing the adventures of some favorite characters. For the most part, they exist not to progress or expand these characters but rather to simply let them keep on living. In fact, the licensed comics that directly involve characters from the movies or TV shows (as opposed to peripheral characters or new characters set in the same universe) are essentially locked into the established continuity. In some cases where the comics are continuing a story – like the Buffy or Smallville comics – continuity is less restricting because it only needs to adhere to the past.

In the case of Star Wars, Vader’s tales need to adhere to the past and the future, which you’d think would be limiting. Instead, the Ghost Prison mini-series takes full advantage of our knowledge of where Vader’s been and where he’s going, and instead uses it to flesh out this character. Because of this story, I’ll never look at Vader’s relationships with the other Imperials in A New Hope the same ever again.

Alongside things like The Force Unleashed, I have a greater appreciation for the power of Vader’s character than ever before, most notably his power of manipulation. You know when Admiral Motti steps to Vader in that Death Star roundtable scene? The tension is retroactively even greater because I know what Vader is capable of doing to his allies to benefit his own cause.

I guess what I’m saying is, licensed comics should dare to do more with the characters, and those who license them should encourage it. Ghost Prison proves that there is plenty of room for growth and exploration within even the most confined spaces of continuity. In the meantime, I urge you to give this book a try – no matter how jaded about Star Wars you’ve become.

And if you’re jaded, stop. Star Wars still rules.

Joey is IGN's Comics Editor and a comic book creator himself. Follow Joey on Twitter, or find him on IGN. He will love Star Wars until the end of his days.

Source : ign[dot]com

Where Puzzle Craft Goes From Here

Puzzle Craft has taken over the hearts and minds of the mobile gaming community. I am not immune. When I close my eyes I see patterns of pigs and wheat and trace imaginary lines through them. Professionals have long called this Puzzle Fever. The first documented case in the 90s involved phantom Tetris Attack blocks.

It will take most gamers 10-15 hours to construct the Puzzle Craft’s penultimate Castle, thus “ending” the game. That’s a more than respectable amount of gameplay for a $0.99 purchase. But players have a fever! The only solution?

More Puzzle Craft.

Luckily Chillingo and Ars Thanea’s puzzler has several obvious ways the experience can be expanded and improved. We have compiled our thoughts on some cool directions Puzzle Craft could go. Share your own thoughts in the comments below.

Treasures

Rare trophies & collectibles are a natural fit for Puzzle Craft & would boost replay value.

Allow players to construct a treasure/trophy room in their shiny new castle. Finishing it would cause unique treasure pieces to drop at random in the farming and mining minigames. Filling in and completing an entire treasure collection would give players a shiny new trophy for their collection and perhaps a special boost or power-up.

Players could construct a Treasure Hunter’s Lodge and hire a group of Treasure Hunters to increase the treasure “drop rate.”

Finally, if players hit a string of bad luck and simply can’t get the final piece of a desired treasure, a light social trading system could be implemented. If you get a duplicate treasure, simply trade it away to a friend for one you still need.

Battle Arena

A Dungeon Raid-style fighting puzzle is a no-brainer.

Your castle doesn’t need to be the kingdom’s only mega-construction. Why not introduce more? Once constructed, besides providing eye candy and bragging rights, each could open up a new puzzle game, representing an entirely new phase or gameplay season for Puzzle Craft.

An obvious addition would be a coliseum-style Battle Arena, introducing a brand-new one-on-one combat puzzle. Like previous mobile puzzler Dungeon Raid, players could match swords, shields and other items to damage enemies, block incoming attacks, heal up and more.

To keep players interested and invested in farming and mining, a variety of Arena add-ons and support structures could be available for construction. An upgradable item shop introducing new weapons and items to help players progress through The Arena’s ranks would be one easy inclusion. Food could be spent in a player-built sparring room to level-up your hero and boost his stats.

A Battle Arena add-on could potentially span several Puzzle Craft updates. Once players master and complete the arena with one hero, more classes, each with their own special board-clearing abilities, strengths and weaknesses could be introduced to encourage players to develop and manage an entire roster of champions. Heroes could be sent on automated missions, bringing back resources and tools the next time players sign into the game.

Harbor

Imagine constructing a massive harbor and unlocking a new diving puzzle game for your trouble.

Every good city needs a harbor, making it another obvious gameplay-adding mega-construction. Once constructed it could open up a new fishing or diving minigame.

Just as players spend food to progress through the mines, players could spend mining resources like silver and gold to make “dive suits” for use in the diving minigame. This keeps Puzzle Craft’s core gameplay loop intact. Spend farm food in the mines. Spend mining goods to dive.

To make the diving minigame feel distinct blocks could fall from the bottom-up. Collect fish, pearls and the occasional treasure chest (complete with unique treasures as outlined above) while avoiding nets, sharks and other obstacles. Matching helpful air bubbles could extend your dive. Deeper depths contain greater dangers but also greater treasure.

Like the battle arena, a variety of supporting structures and workers could be introduced to further develop your fledgling harbor & improve the puzzle game. An upgraded dive shop could allow for the construction of diamond Dive Suits for big diving sessions. Constructed frigates could be sent on trade missions, returning a few hours later with whatever material you need most. Upgraded trading vessels could bring back even more goodies.

Even More Potential Puzzle Games

If we consider Puzzle Craft’s initial 10-15 hours of kingdom building Phase One, and the ideas above potential concepts for Phase Two and Phase Three, it’s easy to imagine where else the game could go. With the kingdom in place, players are left with the simple task of running it!

More puzzle games, buildings, workers and tools could be slowly introduced to allow players to raise an army & wage war, develop the cultural arts & build a museum, begin investing in technology & science and plenty more.

The fear might be that all these additions could hamper Puzzle Craft’s pure fun factor, throwing into doubt its ability to appeal as a light and breezy time-killing puzzler. One potential solution is to parcel these updates out slowly and steadily. Both in realtime, and in-game. No hint of a Battle Arena or Harbor would need to be present in-game before players construct the Level 25 castle. After gamers complete one major milestone the game could simply send the player on to the next, while still giving them reasons to farm and mine.

Events

Zombies already have a long & successful history in the puzzle genre.

Timed events could be an easy way to keep Puzzle Craft fresh and fun. It could be as simple as swapping out carrots with pumpkins or jack-o-Lanterns in October, complete with new one-month-only pumpkin treasure. But a more elaborate Halloween event could also be created.

Zombies might be overdone, but imagine the world of Puzzle Craft under attack from an undead horde? To fight them off players could collectively raise massive piles or resources to support the war effort. If all Puzzle Craft players can globally contribute, say, 10 million pieces of iron before the month-long event ends then everyone is awarded a cosmetic decoration as a reward. Simple.

Practical Improvements

Not all Puzzle Craft changes need to involve major content drops. A handful of practical improvements would also be quite welcome.

Players should be able to move buildings, for starters. The building swap could be paid for with in-game resources that don’t have much use right now like Wood or Dirt. This makes sense from both a gameplay and thematic perspective.

Users should also be able to sell tools for a small amount of cash or at least break them down into raw resources. Given how generously the game hands out tools at high levels this might lead to balance issues. But the alternative is forcing gamers to live with 100+ useless rakes.

Finally, additional town customization and personalization would be very welcome. The flowers, fountains and bushes we have now are nice, but more would be even nicer. An even more ambitious option would be to allow players to unlock or purchase new skins for your buildings and workers. This could allow players to run a steampunk town or evil Mordor-esque empire. These options, perhaps available as In-App Purchases, could even re-skin the puzzle games.

Tower of Power

Despite all attempts to parcel out content at a reasonable pace there will always be some players that race well ahead of the pack. They might be gamers with too much money, buying $25 packs of in-game coins. They might be gamers with too much free time, unlocking every new building and upgrade as soon as it becomes available. The bottom line? Puzzle Craft needs some serious resource-sinks to give these players something to sink their teeth into!

An endless tower is one potential solution. Once players have built everything else, allow them to get to work gathering the resources needed for Floor 1 of a tremendous tower to the heavens. After Floor 1 comes a slightly more expensive Floor 2. Then Floor 3, and so-on. With each floor requiring more goods to construct than the last, truly hardcore Puzzle Craft players could compare their towers against one another as a visual representation of the current GameCenter high score leaderboard.

What do you think? What do you want to see from Puzzle Craft once you construct your castle? Leave a comment below and let us know. But be sure to dream big!

Justin is Editor of IGN Wireless. He doesn't want to be cured of his Puzzle Fever. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Steam Updates Groups, Enhances Content Management

Valve has announced more new updates to the Steam Community, making changes to group pages as well as how users manager their uploaded content. Valve says that over 2.5 million groups have been created, and their pages will now receive an entirely new layout, adding a group overview, friend showcase and new group discussions.

Discussions can be public or private and users will have “complete moderator control” over their own groups, including the ability to create sub-forums, add moderators and delete posts. Groups can also list their favorite games and a default language can be set.

Valve has also added a new way to keep track of screenshots, replays, videos linked from YouTube, workshop Items and Workshops on your profile page. All content will be available for users to display or manage, with an image wall that will offer multiple ways to view your uploaded screenshots. Players will also be able to favorite screenshots in order to find them later or share them with friends.

Today is the third day of a week’s worth of Community updates that Valve is rolling out this week. The first update came on Monday with the introduction of Game Hubs. For more details about all of the new features, check out the Steam Community’s official site.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Steam Expands Community, Adds ‘Game Hubs’

Steam has announced a major update to the Steam Community. Every game on Steam will now have its own Game Hub, highlighting user-created screenshots, videos and Steam Workshop items as well as the latest news, discussions and comments. The information will be available in one central location, and content shown will be based on ratings from the community.

The news comes as part of a four-day reveal leading up to the new Steam Community and includes some new statistics about the content that's been uploaded by users. According to Valve, more than 80 million screenshots have been uploaded since Steam Screenshots launched in February 2011, as well as nearly one million videos shared by linking Steam accounts with YouTube. Over 200,000 Steam Workshop items have also been created.

"The New Steam Community is all about showing off the best content that gamers have created," said Valve's Emily Kent. "With over 89 million screenshots, videos, Steam Workshop maps, levels, mods, and items, plus news articles and product updates, the community has created an unbelievable wealth of content around their favorite games."

This is one of many recent changes to Steam, following the introduction of Steam Greenlight and Steam’s expansion into non-game software. More details about the Community will be revealed in the coming days, so keep checking back for all the latest updates, as well as when you’ll be able to jump into the closed beta.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Community Creator Dan Harmon Developing New Sitcom for FOX

Following the Community debacle at NBC, the creator and former showrunner of that series, Dan Harmon, has now moved over to FOX, where he is closing a deal to develop a new pilot for the network. This would be the writer's first network project since his boot from the acclaimed Community.

However, unlike the single-camera style Community, Harmon's new yet-unnamed show would be a traditional multi-camera sitcom, according to TVLine. As the site notes, this isn't Harmon's first project at FOX; back in 1999, he co-wrote a Ben Stiller-directed sci-fi/comedy mashup show called Heat Vision & Jack, starring Jack Black and Owen Wilson. However, the pilot never went to series.

In addition to the multi-camera project, Harmon is working on an animated series for Adult Swim called Rick & Morty.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Anthony Russo Talks Captain America 2

Earlier today at the TCA press tour, IGN TV's Eric Goldman spoke with former Community executive producer (and frequent Community director) Anthony Russo about what he and his brother Joe Russo have planned for Marvel's sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier. First, we learned a bit about how the comedy duo was initially tapped to direct the upcoming comic book feature, as well as how Community was actually the launchpad for their recruitment.

"It sort of came out of the blue, but [Marvel] were big fans of Community," said Russo. "You can sort of draw a line between some things we did on Community and a Marvel movie. I think if you look at some of the big genre episodes -- you know, the paintball episodes, etc. -- there’s a cinematic sensibility being explored there that is in the language of those films."

Additionally, Russo noted that he and his brother's experience in television gave them a leg up with working in such an expansive franchise like The Avengers. "Marvel is a big company, and they’ve made a lot of movies. These narratives are connected to each other. That’s not typical for a feature film, but television people are used to that. There are seasons and seasons of a show, and the history is very important it, obviously... My brother and I were comic book geeks from a young age, and big fantasy geeks. We got to talk to [Marvel] in detail about that. They knew that we understood the brand and their characters really well. We were just incredibly passionate about the movie, and they felt that it was the right match."

While Russo wasn't allowed to divulge many details surrounding the Winter Soldier plot, he did describe some of his aspirations for the Steve Rogers character. "We’re trying to grow him as a character," he continued. "Certainly, he’s come a long way from where he started in World War II to where he is in modern-day America. So the character has room for growth because of that huge journey he’s been on, number one. Number two, the appeal of these movies is the ensemble. Captain America isn’t the only character in the film, and there are other characters that are perhaps lighter in nature."

Speaking of the ensemble, might we see any appearances from other Avengers, Peggy Carter or S.H.I.E.L.D. members? To that, Russo remained tight-lipped. "That’s something Marvel will shoot me for if I tell you," he joked.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier begins production early next year, with a release date set for April 4, 2014.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com