Shacknews interviewed Matt Firor about the Elder Scrolls Online:

Elder Scrolls Online's Matt Firor Talks Crossplay, Paid Character Transfers & Celebrating 10 Years

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The Elder Scrolls Online is ten years old:

The Elder Scrolls Online - 10-Year Anniversary

ESO’s 10th Anniversary Celebration Begins Now!

Join us for 15 months of reveals, retrospectives, rewards, and more as we celebrate 10 amazing years of The Elder Scrolls Online.

We are thrilled to announce that ESO’s 10th Anniversary Celebration has officially begun! This massive celebration puts a spotlight on you (our players), the game, and the development team over the next 15 months*. 

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SWTOR Strategies looks back at Star Wars: The Old Republic:

Decade of SWTOR: Celebrating the Epic Journey of Star Wars: The Old Republic

Step into a universe where the echoes of epic space battles mingle with the whispers of ancient Jedi and Sith lore. This is the world of Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR), a realm that has captivated gamers for a decade with its rich storytelling and dynamic gameplay. As we celebrate the ten-year anniversary of this iconic game, let’s embark on a journey through time and space, exploring the evolution, impact, and enduring legacy of SWTOR.

In this article, we’ll navigate through several key aspects:

• The Launch into a New Era: Reflecting on SWTOR’s grand debut and its initial impact on the gaming community.
• Expansive Galaxies: How major updates and expansions have continually reshaped SWTOR’s universe, keeping it fresh and engaging.
• The Heart of the Galaxy: The role of the passionate SWTOR community in shaping the game’s journey and its unique culture.
• Adaptation and Survival: Examining how SWTOR has kept pace with the rapidly changing landscape of online gaming through innovation and adaptation.
• Peering into the Future: Speculating on what lies ahead for SWTOR, including potential new stories, technological advancements, and evolving gameplay.
• A Legacy Beyond Gaming: Understanding SWTOR’s place in the larger Star Wars narrative and its impact on pop culture.

As we delve into these topics, we will uncover not just the story of a game, but the saga of a community, the evolution of an online world, and the enduring magic of the Star Wars universe in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

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IGN shows a new trailer for the Elder Scrolls Online expansion The Gold Road:

The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road - Official Cinematic Trailer

GVMERS is looking back at the cancelled MMORPG Fable Legends:

The $75M Game That Killed Its Studio - The Tragedy of Fable Legends

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Wccftech talked with lead designer Dennis Douthett about the future of Conan Exiles:

Conan Exiles Dev Talks Age of War Chapter 3 Additions, Promises Support for as Long as There Are Players

Over five and a half years after launch, Funcom's survival game Conan Exiles is still going strong. The game quickly became Funcom's fastest-selling title, having sold 1.5 million copies by July 2018, and the continued support of the player base has translated into a steady stream of new content and features.

Following the release of the Isle of Siptah expansion in 2021, Funcom switched to a different model where free updates (the so-called Ages) were released for free to all players alongside optional Battle Passes for cosmetic items. After last year's Age of Sorcery, 2023 is all about the Age of War, which is now about to enter its third Chapter.

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Wccftech: Is the PvE Raid tuned for a group of players, or can you do it solo?

You can do it solo. Most of our content at endgame is tuned for two players or a solo player with a follower. A geared max level character could do this by themselves; it'd take a bit of extra effort, but it can be done.

Wccftech: Can you bring more thralls with you if needed?

Yes, you can bring pets, thralls, or your clan.

Wccftech: Could you raze it to the ground?

Yeah, it is fully destructible. It would take a long time, though, because it's a high-durability building set. However, it will respawn when you leave so that you can repeat the PvE raid.

Wccftech: Is there a set respawn time?

It's really quick. People just need to go far away for that to happen.

Wccftech: Do you plan to add more PvE raids to Conan Exiles over time?

Yes. They might not be as big as this one, but we would like to do more content like this.

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SWTOR Strategies looks at the current state of Star Wars: The Old Republic:

Star Wars: The Old Republic – A Decade Later, How Do Its Visuals Hold Up?

It’s been over a decade since the release of “Star Wars: The Old Republic” (SWTOR), a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that transported players to a galaxy far, far away. With its expansive universe, intricate storylines, and memorable characters, SWTOR quickly became a staple in the gaming community. But as with all games, especially those in the MMO genre, the question arises: How well have its visuals aged over the years?

A Trip Down Memory Lane
When SWTOR first launched, it was lauded for its cinematic storytelling, voice acting, and immersive environments. The game’s graphics, while not cutting-edge even for its time, were competent and served the narrative-driven gameplay well. The character models, animations, and world design were detailed enough to immerse players in the vast Star Wars universe.

Comparing to Modern Standards
Fast forward to today, and the gaming landscape has seen a significant evolution in terms of graphics and visual fidelity. Modern titles boast near-photorealistic graphics, intricate details, and dynamic lighting that can make older games like SWTOR seem dated in comparison.

However, it’s essential to consider the context. SWTOR was never about pushing the boundaries of visual technology. Instead, it focused on delivering a rich, story-driven experience set in the beloved Star Wars universe. And in that regard, it succeeded immensely.

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Squadron 42 is now feature complete; meaning its moved onto the polishing phase.

We are excited to announce that Squadron 42 is now feature-complete! As we move into the polishing phase, we’re fully focused on optimizing and fine-tuning all aspects of the gameplay experience to deliver an unprecedented cinematic adventure. To celebrate this milestone, we have gathered our core development leadership from around the globe to share what this means. Thank you for your continued support of Squadron 42.

KiraTV looks back at Richard Garriott's career and Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues:

$15,125,684+ Taken, 10 Years Developed, Complete Failure

Couchpotato spotted that the Elder Scrolls Online are free on Epic Games store until July 27.

Dennis Douthett - the lead designer of Conan Exiles talks about the combat changes during the Age of War: 

Developer Letter - Combat changes during the Age of War

Hello everyone!

My name is Dennis Douthett, and I’m the Lead Designer for Conan Exiles.

I've spent a lot of my time as Lead Designer collaborating with the community on Discord, showing off new content on Twitch and YouTube, but this is the first time I've worked on a blog post to go with a release. I hope you find this insight interesting, and not too long winded!

The topic today is combat changes coming during the Age of War.

Good Stress

To begin it's important to establish one of the many reasons we find games to be fun. It's the contrast between stress and relief.

When designing games, we look to introduce stress to you by placing challenges in your way. Challenges can be any type of gameplay that blocks your progress: a boss enemy with loot you want, a long wall climb with few resting points along the way, a puzzle that requires observation and timing to unlock a mechanical door. The closer we can stress you to a tipping point only for you to just barely overcome a challenge, the better the victory feels!

As you continue to read this article, keep the relationship between stress and relief in mind!

Combat and Stamina
Why did we change it?

I have seen responses to the stamina updates in the patch notes asking why we made these changes. It is true that nobody outright asked us to increase the stamina cost of attacks, but sometimes fixing problems we identify can affect multiple systems. I will do my best to explain how we got from point to point that made these changes necessary.

These changes sometimes have effects on more than one community as well. We have many different types of players in Conan Exiles, but without a doubt nearly every type of player will be participating in combat at some point. So, while nobody directly asked for that specific change, I can still say who the changes are for: These changes were aimed at making combat feel more consistent, less buggy, and more dynamic for everyone!

The Problem

A unique mechanic was implemented in recent years after our team decided the game was too easy in our playtests. Enemies attacked by multiple players would never get a chance to act, causing them to be stunlocked to death! This led us to create a system that would give enemy AI brief immunity to stun after they had been unable to act for some time. For example's sake, the timing was something close to, "For every 3 seconds of being stunned, you get 1 second to act with impunity."

I do agree this was an issue, but I think that solution introduced a new problem. Between the system providing immunity and the stun protection we give during attacks it was difficult to understand when an enemy would be stunnable.

Increasing Consistency and Dynamics

Even if you are a seasoned player, you likely have no idea why enemies are sometimes stunned and sometimes, they are not. There are no audio or visual cues that let you know an enemy is immune to being stunned - and if there was, they would feel very “gamey” in their presentation. So instead of using brute force to create a gap for enemies to act in battle, we would create it by starving the player of the ability to attack as frequently.

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Starting on June 22 Conan Exiles will get a series of updates:

Conan Exiles Announces The Age of War!

Like Age of Sorcery, Age of War will bring a series of updates, outlined in our new Roadmap.

Greetings Exiles,

As one age ends, another must begin.

The Age of Sorcery has brought us a huge amount of content in less than a year - the sorcery system, building revamp, attributes overhaul, new encounters, golem shaping, new characters and stories, and the Journey System redesign. Yet still our forge hammers ring out as the content furnace burns hot.

An ancient empire has set its hungry eyes on the Exiled Lands.

The invasion is nigh.

On June 22, the Age of War begins as we unleash the first of three major free updates, each of which will be accompanied by a paid Battle Pass and new cosmetic Bazaar store items.

The Road to War

The team is thrilled to reveal our roadmap for the new features and improvements coming in the next Age. Please keep in mind that this roadmap represents our current estimate and is by no means an exhaustive list of the upcoming content.

After working on the Age of Sorcery, something the team had wanted to do since the very beginning of Conan Exiles, it is with equal excitement that they have now shifted the theme to the strength of steel and the allure of gold.

In the Age of War, you will experience the Stygian invasion of the Exiled Lands, as they seek to fill their coffers with your treasure. In Chapter One, you will begin filling your treasure room as you hunt for valuables across the lands. For the first time, you’ll also be able to create your own clan emblem and display it on banners, shields, and more. We look forward to sharing more details about these features ahead of the launch of the first Chapter.

After Chapter 1, as you can see in the roadmap, purges and PvE Sieges will be central features in the updates to come.

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The next expansion for the Elder Scrolls Online called Necrom will be released in June:

The Elder Scrolls Online - Necrom Reveal & Roadmap | Xbox & Bethesda Dev Direct 2023

The developers of Elder Scrolls Online reveal the next expansion, Necrom, while also giving an overview of what The Elder Scrolls Online is all about and what there is to look forward to for those who jump in to the world of Tamriel.

The online Action RPG BLUE PROTOCOL has been annouced for 2023:

Blue Protocol - Reveal Trailer

From Bandai Namco comes this new open world anime Sci-Fi action RPG, releasing globally next year.

Redglyph spotted that Star Citizen and the single player campaign Squadron 42 have raised more than $500,000,000.