Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn will undergo an all World maintenance from 5 pm PDT September 11 to 3 am PDT September 12. During the maintenance new content will be added as well as enhancements to the Duty Finder’s performance and several confirmed issues will be addressed. Clients will update automatically after the completion of the maintenance.
Due to the inevitable login rush after the maintenance, you may experience a Full World, or 1017, error.
Game update 2.3.2 is now live was scheduled to go live today. Here are the full patch notes.
Highlights
New Vehicle! The Desler Nomad is a new rare drop from the final boss of all level 55 Hard Mode Flashpoints.
New Feature! Players can now purchase Cartel Coins in-game through the “Add Coins” interface within the Cartel Market. (details under Cartel Market)
Vendor Update! Emergency Medical Table and Mood: Outraged have been added to the Bounty Supply Company Vendor. Each item is bind on pickup and available for 1 credit to all players, regardless of Bounty Supply Company Reputation rank.
Cartel Market
General
The MR-36 Sniper Rifle is now a Super Rare item.
New Feature! Players can now purchase Cartel Coins in-game through the “Add Coins” interface within the Cartel Market:
This feature requires that players opt-in before it can be accessed. For additional details, please refer to this News Article.
Subscribers receive a 50% discount on the first purchase made using the in-game feature. Please note: this offer does not apply to Cartel Coin purchases made using the website.
New Items
**Please note that Cartel Market updates are dynamic. Changes listed in Patch Notes may take effect up to several days after the patch is made available.**
Players can now purchase standard single-use White and White Dye Modules individually on the Cartel Market! Cost: 1000 Cartel Coins.
Players can now purchase standard single-use Black and Black Dye Modules individually on the Cartel Market! Cost: 2000 Cartel Coins.
A new Emote is now available on the Cartel Market! Complete your musical group with the Emote: Sing unlock. Cost: 400 Cartel Coins.
A new Emote is now available on the Cartel Market! Watch as a strange force possesses your mind with the Emote: Possessed unlock. Cost: 400 Cartel Coins.
Bug Fixes
The Chocolate and Skull-Faced Lobel pets can now be placed on the GTN.
General
Resolved an instance where players could experience a twitchy or swinging camera when moving the mouse.
There is now a Warning Dialogue Box when attempting to send in-game mail to an “Unsafe Recipient”. An “Unsafe Recipient” is any character name that is not in the sender’s Guild, Friend List, or Legacy. This warning can be toggled via Preferences.
Experience and Valor penalties for Free to Play players now apply beginning at level 20 instead of level 10.
Bounty Contract Week
Made adjustments to Kingpin Bounty Contracts:
These contracts now grant a Bounty Brokers Association Official Token of Exemplary Achievement (Purple Reputation Token) as opposed to a Bounty Brokers Association Official Certificate of Accomplishment (Blue Reputation Token).
Individual Kingpin Bounty Contracts can be completed only one time during each Bounty Contract Week.
Characters above level 27 are no longer able to accept Hutta and Ord Mantell Bounty Contracts.
Music now fades to the background properly for Republic players during Bounty Contract Week conversations.
Companion Characters
Treek
Treek now summons as intended in all instances.
Treek’s dialogue outside of cinematics has been corrected. She now has more than one thing to say and no longer requests conversations on the ship when one is not available.
Collections
Collections now refers to the “Bounty Supply Company” instead of “Bounty Supply Corp.” to match the proper Galactic Reputation Faction name listed in the Legacy Menu.
Several items have been updated to correctly indicate rarity.
The Frogdog Practice Jersey can now be previewed in Collections.
The Mercenary Contract (that grants the mission to obtain Treek) has been removed from the Toys section and now only appears in the Special section of the Collections Window.
Once the account-wide unlock for Emote: Flourish is purchased, the reclaim button locks as intended and no longer allows an additional purchase.
The Emergency Medical Table updated in Collections to display under the Toys and Bounty Supply Company Reputation categories, and this item no longer indicates that it can be obtained via the Cartel Market or unlocked account wide.
Mood: Outraged has been updated to display in Collections under the Emotes and Bounty Supply Company Reputation categories, and this item no longer indicates that it can be obtained via the Cartel Market or unlocked account wide.
Flashpoints and Operations
Flashpoints
Athiss
Republic players are now granted the appropriate alignment points in Hard Mode.
Black Talon
Group Finder now matches the first four players of any role for this Flashpoint, as it is now role-neutral at levels 10-14.
Esseles
Group Finder now matches the first four players of any role for this Flashpoint, as it is now role-neutral at levels 10-14.
Items and Economy
General
New Vehicle! The Desler Nomad is a new rare drop from the final boss of all level 55 Hard Mode Flashpoints.
Vendors
Vendor Update! Emergency Medical Table and Mood: Outraged have been added to the Bounty Supply Company Vendor. Each item is bind on pickup and available for 1 credit to all players, regardless of Bounty Supply Company Reputation rank.
Legacy
General
All levels of the Global Legacy Unlock: Fleet Pass have been adjusted:
The base cooldown for the Fleet Pass ability is now 9 hours for subscribers.
The base cooldown for the Fleet Pass ability is now 12 hours for non-subscribers.
Legacy Fleet Pass I, II, and III now reduce the ability cooldown by 3 hours each.
All levels of the Global Legacy Unlock: Legacy Travel and the Quick Travel ability have been adjusted:
The base cooldown for subscribers is now 25 minutes.
The base cooldown for non-subscribers is now 45 minutes.
Legacy Travel I, II, and III now reduce the ability cooldown by 5 minutes each.
New Legacy Unlock! Players can now purchase a Guild Bank for their personal starship under Global Unlocks: Other.
Achievements
Some Achievements no longer display in the Achievement Window as though they are complete, when all requirements have not been met. These Achievements will no longer appear as stuck in the Achievement Tracker in some cases.
The Hoth Achievement “Whiteout” now correctly refers to the Pantran Whitefang World Boss as “Snowblind.”
The Hoth Achievement “Hell Hoth No Fury” now correctly refers to the Pantran Whitefang World Boss as “Snowblind” and no longer claims to have a 30 minute time limit.
Players will receive the correct Achievement for completing these Explosive Conflict Operations encounters:
Firebrand and Stormcaller on 8-Person Hard Mode
Firebrand and Stormcaller on 16-Person Story Mode
Colonel Vorgath on 16-Person Story Mode
Missions and NPCs
Missions
General
Updated the mission text for several missions to indicate that players must use their personal starship on steps that require travel to Coruscant or Dromund Kaas.
[DAILY] Galactic Conflicts and [VEHICLE] Aratech Ice: These missions now update properly upon completing the Esseles Flashpoint on Hard Mode.
Daily Area Missions
CZ-198
[WEEKLY] Czerka Takeover (Republic)/[WEEKLY] Czerka Dissolution: The mission text now refers to the faction-appropriate Anti-Toxin mission.
Anti-Toxin Recovery (Republic)/Anti-Toxin Acquisition (Imperial): Updated the Mission Log and Tracker text to properly point players to the Mission Dropbox upon completion.
Class Missions
Bounty Hunter
Joy Ride: Players are now informed that Mako is required for the step “Slice the Ship’s Door” if a different Companion Character is active.
Trooper
Public Relations: The bonus mission “The Price of Betrayal” no longer advances by defeating enemies other than the intended Treacherous Republic Troops.
NPCs
General
The Republic Soldier on Hoth’s Clabburn Base now understands that gravity should affect him and is no longer floating.
Tauntaun Handlers see the diverse value of their product and no longer refer to their Tauntauns as military “hardware” or “arsenals”.
PvP Vendors in the Outlaw’s Den now have voices and move their lips.
Bounty Contract Week
Kreegan Ramar, the Tatooine Kingpin Bounty, now uses voice modulation when speaking.
PvP
Players who log out or are disconnected while in a Warzone queue no longer become stuck in the queue on all characters.
Upon initially entering a Warzone, ability tooltips now display the correct amount of damage dealt.
UI
Codex
All Imperial players can now reach the lore object to obtain the “Invasion of Balmorra” Codex entry, as it has been moved just inside the Balmorran Arms Factory.
Players who manage to suffer the horrid fate of death by Sarlacc digestion are now granted the Codex entry and Title “Worm Food.”
Defeating the Unleashed Maelstrom Terentatek within the Maelstrom Prison Flashpoint now grants Republic players a Species Codex entry.
Terentatek have been removed from the Tython Bestiary requirements.
Players are now able to unlock the “Ithorian” Species Codex entry.
The tourism board of Makeb has corrected an error in their system, and the Planetary Codex entry is now available to visitors.
The following Codex entries have been moved to a new “Lost Knowledge” category and no longer count towards planet totals:
Champion of House Thul (Alderaan)
Conqueror of Balmorra
Master of the Burning Way (Belsavis)
Conqueror of Corellia
Liberator of Corellia
Ice Wars Veteran (Hoth)
Of the Bane Brigade (Hoth)
Shadow Hunter (Nar Shaddaa)
Scourge of the Underworld (Nar Shaddaa)
Venom Drinker (Quesh)
Venomous (Quesh)
SIS Operative (Tatooine)
Primeval Explorer (Tatooine)
Mandalorian Bane (Taris)
Scorcher of Worlds (Taris)
Ambassador of the Republic (Voss)
Ambassador of the Empire (Voss)
Maps
Updated the Belsavis World Map to include additional roads in the Tomb area.
Miscellaneous Bug Fixes
Imperial players can now access the Quick Travel Bind Point for Tarisian Dawn on Taris.
Corrected a rare issue that would prevent characters who had not logged in for a time from loading into the game.
Class names will now display the proper feminine form in most instances in French and German.
The relaunch of Final Fantasy XIV as FFXIV A Realm Reborn should have been a crowing moment in a troubled past for Square Enix. But stability and load issues are leaving many, especially North American and European, players singing the blues.
This weekend was supposed to be a time of unbridled joy for anyone that pre-ordered FFXIV. A time to enjoy Eorzea ahead the influx of players on launch day. To get a head start and be out of the starting zones when the game launches. But server outages are causing the majority of NA/EU players unable to even get pass the start screen. And if by some luck you were able to get pass the start screen and into the character selection screen, you often end up with an empty screen because NA/EU servers just would not load.
The most frustrating part is not the inability to enjoy Early Access, but the seemly ineptitude of Square Enix. While server issues are common place and even expected in the launch of a new MMO, FFXIV ARR is not a “new” MMO. Square Enix cannot fall back upon the age old excuse of not knowing how many players to expect. FFXIV had an established player base and they had the pre-order numbers. And on top of that, many of the same issues were present during the final phase of closed beta which took place a mere week ago. One would think with potential pitfalls spotted and a very good estimate on player base, Square Enix would have been more prepared, if not overly prepared, for the coming relaunch.
I truly hope all the server issues are resolved quickly and that FFXIV ARR does not begin life the same way that FFXIV’s life ended. I have really enjoyed the game so far, the parts that I’ve been able to see anyways. I plan to post a review of FFXIV ARR in the coming week.
Are you ready to take back the Earth? Ready to finally take the fight to the Chosen? Well, get your Battleframes ready. Mark Kern, CEO of Red5 Studios, took to twitter earlier today to announce FireFall Open Beta Stage 2 is now underway.
For the first time ever in Firefall, you will be able to take the fight directly into the Melding against the Chosen. No longer are you limited to simply defending New Eden against the Chosen Incursions. It will be up to you, and your fellow Battleframe pilots, to fuel the newly constructed giant Melding Repulsors to generate enough power to start permanently pushing back the Melding. Each time the Repulsor is fired, more and more of the Melding will be permanently pushed back.
Once the Melding is pushed back far enough, you will discover secret Chosen fortifications that must be besieged and destroyed. Destroying these fortresses will unlock new Chosen technology that can be research crafted into future Battleframe gear and items. When the Chosen is defeated and the Melding is completely pushed back, you will be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor and fully explore the newly reclaimed area of Earth.
Just be aware, you will be competing against other pilots to see who does the most in helping to reclaim the Earth. Top pilots will be rewarded with special rewards and commendations as well as having statues built, in their honor, in the new capital. The number one pilot will be rewarded with the additional honor of naming the city itself.
The war against the Chosen will continue as more Melding pockets are discovered and then pushed back. And it is up to you and the other pilots to determine the course in which the war progresses. The success or failure of the war against the Chosen will rest heavily on those choices and your determination.
Not in the Open Beta, you can join the war at the official site.
Game update 2.3.1 is schedule to go live for Star Wars: The Old Republic at 10 am UTC on August 21. Here are the full patch notes.
Highlights
The first Packs of Shipment Three are now available for sale on the Cartel Market! Most items in the Contractor’s and Freelancer’s Bounty Packs are not found in the Shipment One Cartel Packs or Shipment Two Contraband Packs.
New Galactic Reputation Organization! Players may now gain reputation with the Bounty Supply Company, a group loosely affiliated with the Hutt Cartel! Details under Legacy
Implemented changes to improve the overall experience for Free-to-Play players at early levels!Details under General
Cartel Market
General
Authorization: Event Equipment Requisition has been removed from the Cartel Market. All players now have access to Event equipment.
New Items
**Please note that Cartel Market updates are dynamic. Changes listed in Patch Notes may take effect several hours after the patch is made available.**
A new Bounty Pack, the Contractor’s Bounty Pack, is now available on the Cartel Market. Cost: 160 Cartel Coins
A new Bounty Pack, the Freelancer’s Bounty Pack, is now available on the Cartel Market. Cost: 320 Cartel Coins
Players can now purchase Hypercrates containing 24 Freelancer’s Bounty Packs. (Discounted by 10% for a limited time!) Cost: 6,912 Cartel Coins
Bug Fixes
Armor sets from the Cartel Market now have updated icons that are uniform in design.
The art for the Grade 7 Starship Tactical Bundle now includes the Improved Power Conversion Module.
General
Implemented changes to improve the overall experience for Free-To-Play players at early levels:
Free-To-Play players can now train Sprint at level 10.
Free-To-Play players are now granted the Emergency Fleet Pass ability at level 10.
The Appearance Designer Kiosk and lore object have been removed from the GTN area of the Fleets and are now exclusive to the Cartel Bazaar hangar.
Bounty Contract Week
While in a group, players who have used different methods to complete the same Bounty Contract are now provided with the appropriate conversation when turning in bounties to clients on single-faction planets.
The appropriate error message will now display when a Friendly Drink is offered to a Shady Character who has already declined to provide information after one is offered.
Players are no longer able to remove the “Bounty Engaged” buff from themselves.
Aja Novar’s “Explosive Surge” ability no longer displays as a buff while being cast.
All Henchmen have broken their vow of silence during combat and will speak when fighting.
Interrogation Probes and Kingpin Authorization items no longer incorrectly display a debuff icon upon use.
The Carbonite Grenade no longer functions while players are dead.
The “Bounty Target Region” buff is no longer applied twice while completing Bounty Contracts on Nar Shaddaa.
Classes and Combat
Jedi Consular
Sage
Telekinetics
The immobilize from Force Wake is now properly classified as a negative Force effect and can be dispelled by the appropriate abilities (such as Evasion or Force Shroud).
Sith Inquisitor
Sorcerer
Lightning
The immobilize from Electric Bindings is now properly classified as a negative Force effect, and can be dispelled by the appropriate abilities (such as Dodge or Resilience).
Collections
The Diplomat’s Meditation Hoverchair now displays a level requirement icon in the Collections Window.
The description of Mood: Angered has been updated to correctly reflect its rarity.
The image for the Republic Hutball Away Uniform in the Collections Window has been updated to match the gear’s appearance in-game.
Companion Characters
General
Unsummoning the target companion while in the process of giving them a gift no longer consumes the gift without providing affection.
Lt. Pierce
Affection conversations now show Lt. Pierce’s custom appearances and use correct camera settings.
Risha
Risha no longer appears to be in two places at once on the Smuggler starship.
Skadge
Skadge has given up his ventriloquism hobby and will move his lips when saying the line “You got somethin’ to kill, or what?”
Treek
Treek’s lips now sync properly with her words outside of conversations.
Players will now address Treek properly when speaking to her in French.
Crew Skills
General
Players now retain all Advanced Training for Crew Skills that are deactivated due to a change in subscription status.
Crafting Skills
General
Players are now presented with a warning when Reverse Engineering gear that contains mods.
Artifice
Crafted Dread Guard Relics now have a uniform material cost.
Synthweaving
Synthweavers are no longer prevented from Reverse Engineering Willpower gear from Makeb.
Gathering Skills
Biochem
Buff icons for Biochem consumables now properly match the item icon.
Flashpoints and Operations
Flashpoints
Czerka Corporate Labs
Sith Warrior and Jedi Guardians will notice that Saber Reflect now appropriately reflects damage from CZ-2X Infiltrator Droids.
Once the CZ-8X Eradicator Droid is activated, there is no longer a rope present to cause line of sight errors.
Rasums Blys has brought in experts to fix his floor and Kolto tank, and their textures now display properly.
Czerka Core Meltdown
The Vigilant now attacks his target in all circumstances when starting the second phase of the encounter.
Grounded the chairs that were floating around in the Jungle Habitat Room.
Experimental Berserkers now spawn more reliably during the encounter with The Vigilant if Data Integration Points are destroyed quickly.
Taral V
Players are now able to complete the Flashpoint if they exit the phase while on the step to defeat General Edikar.
Operations
Scum and Villainy
Decreased the damage dealt by the Wealthy Buyer’s “Wrist Laser” ability in 16-Player Nightmare Mode.
Players who are caught Dash’Roode’s “Updraft” ability are no longer able to be knocked back by his other abilities.
Updated the Operations Chief’s “Terminate” ability to make the damage dealt through player shields more consistent.
The enrage timer has been increased by 30 seconds for the encounter with The Cartel Warlords in both Hard and Nightmare Modes.
The encounter with The Cartel Warlords has been updated in Nightmare Mode. When two Warlords are left alive, if both are brought below 50% health, they will enrage and gain increased movement speed and damage.
Made several adjustments to the encounter with Thrasher in 16-player Nightmare Mode:
Thrasher’s health has been increased by from 5.15 million to 5.33 million.
Thrasher’s enrage timer has been increased from 5 minutes to 5 minutes 35 seconds.
Thrasher’s “Roar” has been increased from 20 seconds to 35 seconds after falling below 50% health and summoning Snipers.
Snipers now pause for three seconds after entering Cover before using their “Snipe” ability.
Snipers now activate Defensive Protocols after 45 seconds rather than 50 seconds.
Turrets now target and attack immediately after spawning.
Turrets now deal increased damage.
Nightmare Mode players can no longer be knocked out of Thrasher’s arena by his “Stomp” ability.
Items and Economy
Commendations that are not gained because a player has reached the maximum quantity no longer count towards that Commendation’s Weekly Progress.
Item icons now visually indicate when they are unusable due to the target being out of range.
Regardless of where it was purchased, a Mercenary Contract will now consume on use rather than upon mission completion.
Descriptions for the following vehicles have been updated to indicate that only their initial purchase from the Cartel Market includes the Legacy Perk: Speeder Piloting I and that the perk is not included when retrieving the vehicle from Collections:
Aratech Rose
Czerka CR-17 Incendia
Czerka LD-1 Celebrator
Gree Solus Secant
Longspur Sportster
Toy animations now display correctly for players who lack the Galactic Reputation to buy the same item through the Bounty Supply Company.
The 2-piece set bonus from the Field Medic’s gear no longer stacks with the 2-piece set bonus from the Battlemaster Field Medic’s gear.
Legacy
General
Players may now gain reputation with the Bounty Supply Company, a group loosely affiliated with the Hutt Cartel! Reputation Trophies for this organization are now available in new Bounty Packs, and a new vendor has been added to the Cartel Bazaar area to allow players to capitalize on this reputation.
Achievements
Increased the reward to 20 Cartel Coins for the “Big Time” Achievement gained by earning Social 10 .
The Sand People Flayer is no longer required to obtain the “Champion of Tatooine” Achievement.
The SIS Watchman is no longer required to obtain the “Tyrant of Ilum!” Achievement.
The Space Combat Mastery Achievements for Saleucami Fleet Action and Javaal Fleet Action now update appropriately in the Achievement Tracker.
The icons for Jaesa Willisaam’s affection Achievements now properly represent their associated alignment.
Missions
General
Ancient Allies (Republic)/New Frontiers (Imperial): These missions can no longer be accepted once the non-repeatable Terror From Beyond story mission has been accepted or completed.
Players who log out in a mission phase that will eject group members are now prompted with the standard “Unsafe Logout” dialogue box.
Intercept Course (Republic)/Best Foot Forward (Imperial): These leading missions are no longer available after players have accepted or completed the “Hutt Hospitality” mssion.
Daily Areas
CZ-198
Anti-toxin Recovery (Republic)/Anti-toxin Acquisition (Imperial): Mutated and Escaped Specimens no longer apply the “Womp Rat Fever” debuff.
Give and Take (Republic)/What’s Yours Is Mine (Imperial): Decreased the required number of Biotoxin and Kolto Containers from 8 to 6 and added additional containers in the faction-specific areas leading up to the Supply Yard. Additionally, the spawn times on these containers have been decreased.
Players who find themselves outside of the intended game world are now properly transported to the Medcenter.
Class Missions
Jedi Consular
The Forge: Qyzen Fess is now required to be present when confronting Nalen Raloch and upon returning to the Jedi Council during this mission.
The Vivicar Awaits: Treek now animates properly when approaching Lord Vivicar.
Sith Warrior
Declaration of War: Treek will now animate properly during the conversation with Captain Treyyen.
General Minst: This mission now progresses as intended while interacting with the Ractor Vault Interface if players choose to ask HK-51 or Treek for any last requests.
Set the Table: If players select to kneel when introduced to Darth Vengean, Treek no longer attempts to accentuate her humble by sinking into the ground.
Smuggler
Race the Devil: Treek no longer moves around erratically while players are talking to Fabizan during this mission.
The Endless Abyss: Companion Characters now follow properly while inside the Hi-Tech Lab.
Trooper
Battle of the Gauntlet: Speaking to Aric Jorgan while aboard The Gauntlet no longer triggers a vivid premonition of future events in the form of the mission’s final cutscene.
Battle of the Gauntlet: Tanno Vik is now a required assistant when attempting to plant explosives at the railgun barrel during this mission.
Battle of the Gauntlet: Yuun is now a required assistant when attempting to override the Primary and Tertiary Security Systems during this mission.
Public Relations: Electing to rescue the senator during this mission will no longer present Troopers with an unlocked door that cannot be opened.
Bounty Hunter
My Sponsorship: Mako now always provides her thoughts when speaking to Albea during this mission, even if another companion is active before the conversation begins.
World Missions
Hoth
Exploding Mines (Republic): While in a group, Troopers no longer cause the conversation to end abruptly if they elect to surrender while speaking to Korl Torin.
Makeb
Players can no longer begin the first conversation of the Makeb storyline from the holoterminal on their groupmate’s personal starship.
Old Feuds (Republic): Players no longer incorrectly receive line of sight errors during the encounter with the Isotope-5 Prototype Walker Droid.
Stealing Thunder (Makeb): Lord Cytharat’s second personality has been quelled and his voice no longer undergoes transformation for only a single conversation line.
Nar Shaddaa
Chemical Agent (Republic): Ganuk now understands that his random comments never lead to actual discussion, so his ambient dialogue no longer triggers a conversation.
UI
General
The mapnotes for Czerka Corporate Labs and Czerka Core Meltdown no longer refer to Hammer Station.
CZ-198 is now labeled as a Level 55 area on the Galaxy Map.
Mission rewards in the Mission Log no longer overlap or cut off when more than five rewards are listed.
The elevator to Cartel Bazaar is now properly labeled in French and German.
The area map for the Cartel Bazaar has been updated in French and German.
The Guild Window now updates properly for players who purchased a Guild Rename before being promoted to Guildmaster.
Updated a misspelled word in the Cargo Hold tutorial.
Chat
The Chat Window font size can now be increased to 30-point.
If players receive a whisper while in the process of replying to another whisper, the reply no longer displays the correct name while incorrectly delivering the message to the name who whispered most recently.
Codex
New discoveries have been made about several species in the galaxy, and those seek knowledge will now be granted with a Species Codex entry:
Advozse
Anomids
Kaleesh
Miscellaneous Bug Fixes
The Group Finder Deserter Status is now applied appropriately in all instances after players log out of the character and back in.
The Jedi Consular’s starship navicomp has been repaired and now takes players to Hoth as soon as it is selected on the Galaxy Map rather than stalling until players click on the ship’s door to exit.
Tauntaun voices no longer carry such that their volume is the same regardless of their distance.
Several reward mailings that had the wrong information in their subject or body fields have been corrected.
Riot Games has announced that “a portion of [their League of Legends] North American account information was recently compromised”. And as of right now “usernames, email addresses, salted password hashes, and some first and last names were accessed” as part of that compromise. While it is unlikely that any passwords will be exposed as the result of the compromise, “players with easily guessable passwords are vulnerable to account theft”.
In addition to the account information, Riot is also “investigating approximately 120,000 transaction records from 2011 that contained hashed and salted credit card numbers” that were also compromised. Riot Games assures players that they are “taking appropriate action to notify and safeguard affected players” and that their “investigation is ongoing and [Riot] will take all necessary steps to protect players’.
Players with North American accounts will be required to change their passwords the next time they log in to “stronger ones that are much harder to guess”. All newly created League of Legends accounts will require email verification and two-factor authentication in the future.
You can read the full security update at the official site.
PvPers in SWTOR are finally going to get some real love from the devs at BioWare in the form of Game Update 2.4. For the first time since launch, the next patch for Star Wars: The Old Republic will be primarily focused on PvP content. So what can you expect from 2.4? Let’s take a look.
Warzone Arenas
The most exciting and anticipated content in 2.4 would have to be the new Warzone Arenas. Currently, all the Warzones in SWTOR are objective based team combat. As a team you must complete a series of tasks in order to win. However in the upcoming Arenas, your only goal is to eliminate the other team. It is Team Death Match at its finest. And since Arenas are small maps designed for 4v4 PvP, you will be able to do your killing in a much more intimate setting.
Each Arena match will consist of three rounds, win the most rounds and your team win the match. All ability cool-down will be reset at the beginning of a round, so no need to save that long cool-down ability for those late round clutch moments.
SWTOR Arena Orbital Station
Look for Arenas on Corellia, Tatooine and an Orbital Station when 2.4 hits.
Ranked Arenas
For the first time you, as a solo player, will have the ability to queue for Ranked Warzones. The new solo queue system will match you with other players of similar rating and for the first time take your role into account. This means if you are a tank, then there will be a tank of similar skill ranking on the other team. So no more four healers against four damage dealers matches. The new matching making will only apply to solo queues and will have no effect on group ranked queues. Along with these changes, you will no longer be able to re-spec while in queue or while inside a Warzone.
Good Bye 8v8 Ranked
Lets be completely honest, while the original idea of 8v8 Ranked Warzones was awesome, the fact that these had to be completely pre-made teams, made the execution of the idea far from desirable. This combined with 8v8 never being supported very well, ahem pre-season for over a year, has led BioWare to remove 8v8 Ranked from SWTOR for the foreseeable future. While the return of 8v8 Ranked is always possible, don’t put to much stock into the idea until some of the underlying problems are fixed and server population gets much more healthier.
On the topic of pre-season for ranked PvP, the plan is to allow a small period of time for you to get familiar with the new arenas before Season 1 is officially rolled out.
If you want an early start or to help out with the testing of these new Arenas and 2.4 in general, then keep a sharp eye towards the Public Test Server stating August 16.
Announced last week in the Titans of Industry Patch, the first Star Wars: The Old Republic Bounty Contract Week event will begin tomorrow August 14. Each day you will be able to take on one bounty contract on the planet of your choice. Success will be determined by the ultimate death or capture of your target and by how well, or poorly, you utilized the Bounty Brokers Association (BBA) underworld resources. After the successful completion of several contracts for the BBA, you will then gain access to high-profile targets available via Kingpin contracts.
All bounty contracts will be listed by the BBA in the Cartel Bazaar hangar of the Fleet. Contracts will be available to anyone level 15 and above. Each contract’s difficulty and rewards will scale to your level to ensure proper compensation and challenge.
Phase three for Eternal Crusade has dropped. In this latest phase, we discover the members of Manufactorum Behaviour, the team tasked with bring Eternal Crusade to the world of men. Check out the video below to meet the team, and maybe a little bit of early character design and gameplay as well.
FireFall is running its first double weekend event this weekend. During the event, which will run until 10 am PDT Monday August 12, all Crystite drops and rewards will be doubled. This is a great opportunity to rake in some extra Crystite to spend upgrading your favorite Battleframe(s) or to research and craft that next level of gear.
Along with the double Crystite event, all Battleframes will be on sale. From now until August 20, you will be able to buy any Battleframe for only seven Pilot Tokens instead of the normal ten. In addition, when you purchase any Red Bean package you will receive a new rechargeable Glider Pad, a new “Top Run and Gun” helmet and a “Target” decal as a one-time bonus item reward. The Red Bean item reward will run until September 10.
In addition to these specials, Red 5 developers and rangers will be hosting group events for the five-man story instance, Blackwater Anomaly. Keep your eyes open for Red 5 devs in chat inviting people to these groups if you want to join in. And you never know, you may just get a small reward as well.