http://www.zam.com/ ZAM gaming news rss feed http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20642 <p>If you're up to the challenge, keep on reading!</p><br/><a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20642">View in full...</a> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20641 <p>Sony Online Entertainment announced today in a press release that more than three million user-created quests have been made in Star Wars Galaxies using the Chronicle Master system since its launch just over a month ago. This number includes one individual who has created more than 6,000 playable quests! That's definitely a dedicated player.</p> <p>In addition, the Star Wars Galaxies: The Complete Online Adventures Premium Plus Pack is now available on <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/24170/" target="_blank">Steam</a> and <a href="http://www.direct2drive.com/8745/product/Buy-Star-Wars-Galaxies:-The-Complete-Online-Adventures-Premium-Plus-Pack-Download" target="_blank">Direct2Drive</a> for 50% off for a limited time. Players who purchase the pack through these sites will receive three exclusive <a href="http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/posts/list.m?topic_id=1021664" target="_blank">in-game vehicles</a>, including an AT-RT, a Queen Amidala Transport Ship and a General Grievous Wheel Bike.</p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20640 <p>It looks like the free-to-play weekend event will be the perfect chance to check out the Nemesis Confrontation update and decide if they want to stick with the game. You can view <a href="http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/view/videos/gameID/335/videoId/1559" target="_blank">a trailer</a> for the lair at MMORPG.com and read the full press release after the jump.</p><br/><a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20640">View in full...</a> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20639 <p>A blue post in the official technical support forum seems to suggest that patch 3.3 isn't scheduled to launch for at least another month. In response to a player complaining about how long it takes to complete the 448MB background download, <a href="http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=21034438977&amp;pageNo=1&amp;sid=1#2" target="_blank">Datth said</a>, "<span class="blue">We only provide mirror links for full client patches. Background downloads do not count. You have around 1+ month to download this file so we're not really worried about your speed."</span></p> <p><span class="blue">This comment certainly shouldn't be taken as any sort of official confirmation of the 3.3 launch window. After all, Datth could have just been talking about the timetable for background downloads in general. Regardless, it's just something to think about while we all wait for 3.3 to hit the live servers on one of these upcoming Tuesdays.<br /></span></p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20638 <p>What does the future of Aion hold? North American Community Manager Andrew "Tamat" Beegle posted an <a href="http://twitter.com/aion_tamat/status/5867243800" target="_blank">interesting hint</a> on his Twitter page yesterday: "<span class="status-body"><span class="entry-content">On November 24th, we will be showing a movie that demonstrates the future of Aion with actual gameplay."</span></span></p> <p>We'll certainly be keeping an eye on the official Aion site and Tamat's Twitter feed next Tuesday. Do you have any speculation as to what Tamat means by his statement? Head over to our <a href="http://aion.zam.com/forum.html?game=71&amp;mid=125873737217413609&amp;num=0&amp;page=1" target="_blank">Aion general forum</a> if you'd like to add to the discussion.</p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20637 <p>Star Trek Online may have just entered <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20249" target="_blank">closed beta</a> about a month ago on Oct. 22, but Cryptic just announced that <a href="http://www.startrekonline.com/node/614" target="_blank">the open beta</a> will be held from Jan. 12-26, 2010. Keys will be given on a first-come, first-served basis on the game's <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20582" target="_blank">revamped</a> Web site.</p> <p>Star Trek Online is scheduled to launch on Feb. 2, 2010 in North America and Feb. 5 in Europe. Do you expect the game to actually be released on those days, or do you think the game will be delayed? We asked this question when the launch dates were <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20450" target="_blank">announced</a>, but it seems like a good time to ask it again since the open beta has already been scheduled.</p> <p>Regardless, we're looking forward to the launch of the Star Trek MMO. We gave the game the "Best in Show" and "Most Innovative Gameplay" titles in our <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=19718" target="_blank">2009 PAX Awards</a>, and we also took <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=19818" target="_blank">another look</a> at the game at the convention.</p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20636 <p><img style="margin: 6px;" src="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/148627.jpg" alt="" width="598" height="254" /></p> <p>The Fallen Earth team has selected <a href="http://www.fallenearth.com/node/286" target="_blank">the winners</a> of its Thanksgiving screenshot contest, and they are all the proud recipients of festive in-game food items like Fried Prairie Chicken, Gritty Pie Crust and Pumpkin Jam. You have to be thankful for what you can get in the wasteland.</p> <p>The first prize winner will also recieve a Fallen Earth T-shirt. You can view all of the screenshots on the official <a href="http://www.fallenearth.com/node/285" target="_blank">contest gallery page</a>. Which screenshot is your favorite?</p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20635 <p>Monte Cristo published <a href="http://www.citiesxl.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=2378&amp;Itemid=128" target="_blank">a letter</a> today that gives players a glimpse at what they can expect to see in the future for Cities XL. It looks like pollution will be the main issue that is tackled in the next patch, which should be released early next week. The update will give mayors the means to fight the negative effects of pollution by building pleasing neighborhoods.</p> <p>The new MINI Cooper car model will also be added to the game in next week's patch, and you can expect to see buses in early December. Another patch will be implemented before Christmas that will add detailed taxes per category and advanced graphical settings. Lastly, country roads, service vehicles and Chinatown-inspired buildings will be added to Cities XL in the future.</p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20634 <p>The anthropomorphic animals in Earth Enternal are currently celebrating <a href="http://www.eartheternal.com/forums/Announcements/topics/Patch-082-Preview-Harvest-Fest" target="_blank">Harvest Fest</a>, which is an in-game Thanksgiving celebration that runs through Nov. 30. Players can speak to Harvest Masters in the major cities of Camelot, Heartwood and Bremen to warp to a Harvest Feast to enjoy some food, and they can also hunt Turkatrices to to earn tokens for festive items.</p> <p>In addition, players should be on the lookout for the Turkatrice King and may want to consider purchasing the limited edition Turkatrice Hat in the credit store. For more information on this free-to-play browser-based MMO, check out our <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=19932" target="_blank">recent tour</a> into the world of Earth Eternal.</p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20633 <p>Today's update to the Star Wars: The Old Republic Web site is the <a href="http://www.swtor.com/news/news-article/20091120_001" target="blank">20th issue</a> of the Threat of Peace Web comic. Community Manager Sean Dahlberg anticipated that this light week might upset some fans, so he emphasized in <a href="http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=1979124#post1979124" target="_blank">a post</a> on the official forums that the team plans on "ending the year well."</p> <p>According to Dahlberg, "we will be doing an update every Friday throughout the rest of the year, including over the holidays. And not a single one of those is a webcomic (by itself) and no Fan Fridays (although they will be returning next year... with some new facets)."</p> <p>While you wait for these future updates, be sure to check out our look at the <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20625" target="_blank">revealed classes</a> as we try to piece together how they'll work as a team in combat.</p>