Rock, Paper, Shotgun

I actually played a decent amount of Tera when it first launched, and I really enjoyed certain aspects. The sublimely timing-based hack ‘n’ slashery was to die for, and the war beavers easily ranked among gaming’s best. But goodness, those quests were a deal-breaker. When lumbering Big Ass Monsters weren’t involved, they epitomized MMO monotony. Go here, kill ten of these, go here, kill ten of another incredibly similar thing, THIS IS WHAT BEING A HERO FEELS LIKE YEAH. Point is, Tera’s best taken in small doses, but a looming subscription fee always made that a pretty bitter pill to swallow. So now’s the part where I conveniently tell you about that fee’s impending demise while also notifying you of promising promises like this one: “Tera will be free. No level, time, or content restrictions.”

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First those ding dang dern Triads and now Hutts? Jeez, what won’t rise these days? I mean, at this rate, everyone and everything’s going to start rising, and then that’ll just be the new normal, non-risen plane of existence. Where’s the fun in that? Oh well, though. Star Wars: The Old Republic: Rise of the Hutt Cartel: The Subtitling is now officially a thing, and it’s coming soon to a galaxy near (read: far, far away from) you. But what will it entail? Am I finally about to get the Hutt crime empire management sim of my dreams? Cross your slimy slug fingers and head past the break for details.

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“What is it with mechs and holidays?” I constantly ask myself and/or say to begin my cliched standup routine. It’s a question that evokes many nuanced and contentious viewpoints, but mainly, MechWarrior Online launched its last big update on “Mechsgiving,” and now a brand new point-capturing Conquest mode is debuting right around Christmechs (which is sadly not what Piranha’s calling it). That’s enough for me to call it a pattern, though, so clearly, mechs are creatures that run on oil, electricity, and festive spirit. There’s more information and a video of the new update in action after the break.

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If you have anything even vaguely resembling a working knowledge of the English language, you’ll probably agree that Play4Free – EA’s diabolical label for its gaggle of free-to-play offerings – was painful, difficult to look upon, and probably responsible for the deaths of millions. But now, on this happiest of days, EA’s kicking it to the curb in favor of Origin Free to Play, a long-overdue reorganization under the service’s woefully anemic (though largely harmless) umbrella.

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Star Wars takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, and Star Wars: The Old Republic is set an even longer time ago than that. Thus, this Hypergate – which is positively ancient, even by SWTOR’s musty standards – must be older than time itself. Naturally, then, people (and blue not-people and green not-people and spiky faced not-people) must risk reducing the precious relic to ash by waging brutal, ceaseless wars over it. That’s just how these things work. And now you can join in on the ill-advised carnage for absolutely no money*. No strings attached**. Nope, none ***. Seriously****!

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These days, when an MMO maker declares its intention to carry on until the day the sun reveals it’s actually been a giant Pac-Man the entire time and devours us all in one fell wakka, it’s easy to be skeptical. Extremely skeptical. But PlanetSide 2 seems to be off to an especially strong start, and no one ever got anywhere – except maybe off the edge of a cliff – by being shortsighted. And so, in a blog post outlining his three-year plan for the truly massive MMOFPS, CEO John Smedley explained that “we’re thinking about a game we plan to have running in 2025.” Which, as you may have noticed, is a bit more than three years from now. But that comparatively short span is the part SOE’s really focusing on, and by the end of it, Smedley’s hoping for player-owned bases, harvestable resources, seamless oceans between continents, NPC armies, and tons more.

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As you may have noticed, Jim’s been quite taken by PlanetSide 2. And when Jim gets taken by something, we at RPS make a policy of paying attention - even when that thing’s not some form of megalomaniacal game journo kidnapper. But, in spite of the supermassive time black hole’s distinctly PC lineage, mods have always been out of the question. Obviously, adding weapons and new shades of purple willy nilly would destroy the game, but what of simple interface tweaks and usability apps? Turns out, they’re also completely, 100 percent off-limits. But why? Well, the short version is – somewhat predictably – cheating.

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Do you have plans for this evening? Do you have plans for any evening in the next, um, forever? Well, cancel them, because it’s time for war. RPS wants you – yes, you, with the hair and/or complete lack of it – to enlist today and help us fight the good fight for all that is free and purple in PlanetSide 2. Can you do that? Can we count on you? Because we don’t have the budget for a bunch of rah-rah-rah propaganda posters and videos. Sometimes, instead of eating food, we just eat pictures of food. But we do have this launch trailer. Well, for now, anyway. I can’t promise I won’t eat it.

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By and large, I’m very glad that free-to-play exists. It’s brought many fine, exceedingly hi-fidelity games back into the PC gaming fold, and I can’t argue with the option to jump in without spending a cent, coin, point, spacebuck, gorgle, or smarnx. Well, except when I can – and usually, that’s when the subject of unlocking comes up. The reason? It’s almost always excruciatingly slooooooooooow. Because naturally, those darn developers – who apparently need to eat occasionally and sleep under roofs (the nerve!) – want you to drop a few extra dimes to speed up the process. It is, then, somewhat shocking – but no less appreciated – that SOE’s taking steps to buck that trend with PlanetSide 2. Or at least make it a bit less of a bitter pill to swallow.

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