The deities that once ruled benevolently upon the Mediterranean and Middle East have become drunk with power. Men, helpless to resist the overwhelming force of these corrupted gods, cower in shame and fear – what else can be done? Fortunately, there exists a single, gleaming hope for mankind; even the mighty gods answer to a higher authority. The sisters of the Fate have watched the affairs of the malevolent gods and entrenched men for many millennia, but this turbulent time calls for intervention. Declaring an end to the gods’ reign, the sisters have given mankind a chance to prove themselves worthy of emancipation.

It is into this perilous era that UTV True Games has set their highly anticipated multiplayer Action RPG, Mytheon. After months of high-profile advertising, the Mytheon Closed Beta launches today, February 3rd. Peter Cesario, Director of Product Development at UTV True Games, expressed the direction the game should take as it heads towards launch:

“Our focus with Mytheon is to deliver some of the most innovative and compelling content, giving our players the ultimate action-RPG gameplay experience.”

Immerse yourself in the potent atmosphere of classic mythology as you challenge the deities and forge your own, unique path to glory. Players will be known as “Stonecasters”, and with the assistance of the Fates, can wield imbued “Power Stones” in their struggle against the gods. By combining and casting these magical stones in battle, players can summon beasts and unleash fearsome energies against their oppressors.

To obtain a beta key, head on over to the official site. Good luck!

Sad news today for fans of Fantasy Earth Zero — after officially launching less than a year ago, the game will be shutting down in North America in just under two months. Gamepot USA has posted a full statement explaining the game’s shutdown schedule as well as the policies on refunds for any game currency purchased within the last month. The game’s cash shop has been closed, with all servers set to quadruple experience and money gained so that players can enjoy the time that’s left.

Fantasy Earth Zero took the long way around to get released stateside in the first place, developed by Square-Enix and then nearly shut down in Japan due to poor sales. An emotional farewell letter has also been posted, something fans of the game will no doubt wish to read. There’s still time left to enjoy the accelerated servers before the shutdown, but when the lights go out on March 24th, they won’t be coming back on.

[Thanks to Jeffrey for the tip.]

Fantasy Earth Zero shutting down on March 24th originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fantasy MMO Runes of Magic has been in the news a lot lately, and it hasn’t all been positive. Last month, self-proclaimed hacker Cpt.Z3r0 claimed to be in possession of the login details to 3.5 million Runes of Magic game accounts. It’s not all bad news, though, as today Frogster announced a great new video contest for RoM players. In honour of San Francisco’s upcoming Game Developers Conference at the end of the month, Frogster is giving players the chance to have their video creations featured on the massive widescreen TV in the Frogster booth.

To enter the Boss Rush video contest, all you have to do is make a video of you and your friends taking down one of RoM’s many instance or world bosses. Upload your video to YouTube and then send a link to the video to the email address provided to be entered into the contest. The best videos will be put to a general vote by the RoM community, who will pick their single favourite entry to win a huge additional prize. The guild members featured in the video that receives the most votes will be given a Grand Golden Repair Hammer in-game, and the guild leader will get a real-life golden hammer signed by Frogster’s US GM team.

Although any video can be entered, there are a few things you can do to massively improve your chances of success. Uploading your video in a resolution of at least 720p, using a 16:9 aspect ratio and keeping a constant frame-rate of 25 will make your video look more professional. It’s also advised that you pick a boss with interesting mechanics, as only the most entertaining videos to watch will be selected. Lastly, Frogster insist that you don’t add any extra audio or music that you don’t own the rights to. Entries must be in by February 28th for a chance to win.

Frogster announces Runes of Magic Boss Rush video contest originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anyway, enough about my free time. This week was dominated by discussions that were probably far more important than the three threads featured here. However, one of these threads illustrates the changing attitudes toward the game, and another is a kind message to the trolls who still scavenge the forums for morsels of optimism. The last thread is a reactionary discussion to the skill point adjustment, which has definitely assuaged concerns of FFXIV being too “grindy.”

And now, on with the links:

Title: I’m pretty sure I kind of like FFXIV

This guy wrote a thread a week or two earlier basically telling people why they should quit FFXIV and go play RIFT. Well, as was always the case with FFXI, now he’s back. Even more importantly, he’s come to the realization that there are things to like in FFXIV. He hits the nail on the head, saying Square Enix has a way of delivering a feeling that nobody else has consistently done. To be fair, Square Enix has the unparalleled advantage of having made the role-playing games we played when we were children and teenagers. That aside, I do agree with the OP. The more time we give FFXIV, the more that essence of the game begins to shine forth. So, in closing, I’d like to welcome the OP back to Eorzea. And I agree with you, too… this game isn’t quite on the doorstep of being great, but I’d say it’s definitely on the porch.

Title: Friendly message to lurkers on here who aren’t playing XIV

Wait a minute, are you implying there are people trolling the forum who no longer play the game? I refuse to believe it! OK, so maybe I do believe it, and I know exactly what the RP is talking about. With a little luck, Yoshi-P will solve this problem by allowing linkshell sackholders the ability to boot people from the linkshell no matter where they are. Or, at the very least, perhaps give us an option for hiding the names of inactive members. In FFXI, all we ever saw were the names of people who were currently logged in. Why not go back to that?

Title: First Glance: Substantial SP gains!

Did you feel that? Just by reading the heading of this paragraph, you got 500 SP! The adjustment to skill point accumulations in groups or against tougher mobs has caused a little controversy from people who feel this makes the game too easy, but reaction to the skill points changes has mostly been positive. The reaction should be positive, given how long people complained about grinding being too slow. By the way you just gained another 400 SP. How does that feel?

If you’re playing Final Fantasy XI these days, you can’t have missed the most recent Mog Bonanza giveaway, and it’s quite likely that you bought a few marbles hoping to get at least the last digit right. But considering how quiet the game has been in terms of updates, you can be forgiven for not realizing that today is the day when the winning numbers are announced. That means that players can see if they won some of the valuable prizes, which include Empyrean weapons, piles of gil, and various furnishings.

The winning numbers are 35041, as shown in the system message displayed when logging into the game. Players have until Monday, February 21st to claim any and all prizes, so it’s best to log in quickly and pick up your winnings. Remember, the more digits you get right, the better the prize, so as long as your number ended in 041 you get to pick up a Rank 3 prize. If you didn’t win, however, don’t despair — the event does tend to turn up in Final Fantasy XI more than once a year, it seems.

Mog Bonanza winners announced for Final Fantasy XI originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you haven’t heard of Habbo Hotel, you might just be in the minority. Sulake, the Finnish maker of the teen-focused virtual community and social game, has just announced that the title has surpassed 200 million registrations as of January 2011. If you’re curious, one registration equals one character in the long-running virtual world, but the total number of unique registered users is unclear.

Habbo Hotel celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, and since its founding in 2000, it has expanded to more than 150 countries across the globe. The year 2010 represented the virtual world’s most successful to date, with 42 million new registrations and over 400 million play hours logged. “The fast, continuous development of Habbo Hotel has enabled us to make quick changes and create new features according to our users’ needs,” said Sulake CEO Timo Soininen via press release.

Habbo Hotel touts 200 million registrations originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The last time I visited Stunlock Studios’ Bloodline Champions, I was impressed but not very turned on. Sure, it worked well, and despite its only semi-original art design, it looked good enough. It just wasn’t really my game. I’m not a PvPer, and I’m certainly not an arena-combat type of guy. Yes, I enjoy a good romp in the pits once in a while, but arena-type games just seem repetitive.

Well, that was back in the early release or beta of the game. Now that I have returned, I have found a much improved, smooth, and more full-featured game. I can even say that I had (gasp!) quite a bit of fun. Granted, I was not able to play many games, simply because during the day it seemed that only the European players had any games available — and even those were generally locked out — but I played a few that made me feel, well, kind of tough. Click past the cut and let me explain.

Continue reading Massively revisits Bloodline Champions and gets pwned

Massively revisits Bloodline Champions and gets pwned originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There are many questions in life that have been debated for eternity. The chicken or the egg? Pie or cake? Fish or cut bait? Pirates or ninjas? Yankees or Red Sox? Democrats or Republicans? Add to this list another age-old question — merit or DKP? Although there are several systems for awarding loot, these two have traditionally been the most popular with guilds. I’ve used both extensively, and while each system is time-tested and works well, I’ve slowly become a DKP convert. In this week’s Guild Counsel, it’s time to take a look at the hot-button issue of what to do with loot.

Continue reading The Guild Counsel: DKP will set you free

The Guild Counsel: DKP will set you free originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Christopher Jackson (as Sonic) and Zach Shaffer (Mario) star in The Wii Plays.
Photo: Carol Rosegg

NEW YORK — Playwright Joe Tracz says he owes his career to videogames, or the lack thereof.

“When I was a kid, I wasn’t allowed to play games or watch TV,” Tracz told Wired.com. “I’d go to school and hear friends talking about playing Mario — things that made no sense, like pipes, turtles, flowers that shoot things at you…. I think that weirdly led me to start making up my own stories.”

Tracz, whose work spans several full-length plays and a script for the FX television series Lights Out, tackles the weirdness of Mario games in a short play titled Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. It’s part of a show called The Wii Plays, a series of theatrical performances at Ars Nova based on games for Nintendo’s groundbreaking game machine.

“It’s a really fun night — there’s a full bar, a live band, people can play Wii before the show,” said Ars Nova’s associate artistic director Emily Shooltz.

Other shorts in the production take inspiration from Wii games like Tomb Raider and Alien Monster Bowling League.

Some of the plays, like Tracz’s, interpret the game quite literally: Mario & Sonic is about the two videogame stars’ rivalry over Olympic gold.

“I knew there had to be a play with Mario in it,” said Tracz. “If I went to a theater festival for plays about the Wii, I knew I’d want to see Mario.”

Other performances play a little more liberally with the themes of the games. Wii Tennis, for example, tells the story of two exes who accidentally meet at a coffee shop, then fire barbs back and forth at one another like so many tennis balls.

The Wii Plays runs through Feb. 12 at Ars Nova in New York. Tickets cost $15.

See Also:

• Mario & Sonic Go Back to the Olympics
• Spider-Man Swings Toward Broadway
• Miyamoto Promises Super Mario Bros. 3DS