MOGS

Final Fantasy XIV

Final Fantasy XIV is a new MMORPG that is in the works by Square Enix. It is slated for a worldwide release in 2010, in almost every language. Details are scarce at the moment, but they have been slowly pouring in as we grow closer to 2010. Square is hoping to redefine the MMO with Final Fantasy XIV, with its deep story being via in game cutscenes and through questing.

Firstly, the game is set to be in more of a futuristic world, in contrast to medieval setting of Final Fantasy XI. The job system of FFXI will be included once again, but it seems the emphasis behind character growth will focus on the weapons this time around. The weapons will have some kind of tie in with character progression, and will influence how you play the game and attack.

Interestingly, there will be no experience points or leveling system in this game. Square Enix wants the game to have a very organic feeling, where players have the freedom to quest and try new and different things at their own pace. Character growth should then be a natural progression of this exploration, rather than a grind.

The two newest classes that were released a few days ago are the Gladiator, and the Pugilist. The gladiator is a heavily-armored close range fighter, with their weapons including swords, shields, throwing knives, and even a blade encrusted shield that can be use offensively and defensively. On the other hand, the Pugilist is a lightly armored melee fighter that utilizes hand to hand attacks.

Final Fantasy enthusiasts will also be pleased to know that Square just announced a release date for Final Fantasy XIII. It will arrive for the Xbox360 and PS3 on March 9, 2010. So it looks like we can look forward to two new Final Fantasy games next year.

Jake

Star Trek Online Episode Missions

Cryptic just announced Star Trek Online will be released February 2nd, 2010. Cryptic also announced that there will be episode missions, where you would be playing through an episode of the tv series. Each episode will build upon the Start Trek storyline and challenge your abilities as a tactician. There will be three ’seasons’ at launch, with 14 episodes per season. While the three seasons available at launch will have common themes, and many episodes are related to one another, there are only a few episodes with prerequisites to meet before you can play through them. Episodes generally last between 45 and 90 minutes and are designed with transition in mind. In many classic Star Trek episodes, the characters were never on one set very long. In the game, you’ll find yourself moving between different maps, both on the ground and in space, to blend literal movement with plot development. This game is definitely one to look out for, and I can’t wait till February to join the Star Trek Universe.

http://startrekonline.com/screenshots?img=77

-Jon
Mogs.com

Atlantica Online

Atlantica Online is a free to play game that offers strategic turn based game control of several characters. If you are looking for a break from traditional MMO’s and just want to try something different, fun, and free, Atlantica Online is a pretty good choice. I was surprised at how smooth the play was and how fun it is to pick up new boxes and follow the quest line. What are these boxes? They are packages that contain items and goods. When you open them it is somewhat like a lottery or slot machine, items spin around and you win something. There are tons of rare and unique items that pop up.

Characters are pretty cool, a selection of mercenaries are available for you to grow your army. All those little items popping out of the boxes give you opportunity to gear up all the characters that follow your main toon through the game. I can’t say I’ll invest a great deal of time in the game, but for something different now and then it’s better than most of the free to play games sweeping the industry.

Dan@mogs.com

SWG Entertainer/Trader GCW Banner Suggestion

I’ve been thinking about what to do about the GCW banners for a ranking Entertainer or Trader. Why not make it so that anyone of the same faction gets double the buff from Entertainers, I’m not talking about duration either. It would help those that have no 5 piece set. Sure it would make those of that do stronger but that’s just part of the game.

For the Trader profession its a bit more difficult, for a Domestics Trader why not make their GCW banners give double the buff of the food/drink that a person has. This would also give a boost to the economy due to the fact that people would be more inclined to get the best foods that they can. For a Weaponsmith, Droid engineer, and Armorsmith the banners could give a Trader prof specific buff, like say 5% bonus to armor or weapon damage. A structures traders GCW banner could give a bonus to armor protections, maybe another 5% bonus.

This all in turn would give people a reason to play their crafters in space to get GCW or even try their hands at ground combat with Traders. If crafters and entertainers will (finally) play an active role in the GCW with the GCW update then the rewards obtained from GCW ranks should also be updated to include these professions.

Microsft Bans Modded XBox 360 Units

A big launch can lead to big piracy, especially with the console version of Modern Warfare 2, which was available online for modded Xbox 360 systems for a week or more before launch. Microsoft knows you shouldn’t be playing the game before its official release, and activity on Xbox Live gives them an easy target. Consequently, an unknown number of consoles have been permanently banned from Xbox Live.

The techniques Microsoft uses to separate those who have wrangled early copies of the game from retailers and pirates remain nebulous, but once a console has been banned from Xbox Live, the system is useless to anyone who wishes to play online. That’s a problem—or an opportunity— for the second-hand market, as waves of banned consoles are now up for sale on eBay and craigslist.

No online play, but free games!

The banned consoles come preloaded with hacks and, in many cases, copies of popular games. The problem isn’t with gamers who knowingly buy a banned system in order to play copies of software or to simply enjoy offline, the issue is that there is no easy way to check if a console has been banned or not aside from logging into Xbox Live.

Microsoft’s Major Nelson put it bluntly “This would also be a good time to remind you that the warranty on an Xbox 360 console is not transferrable and if you purchase a used console that has been previously banned, you will not be able to connect to Xbox Live,” he explained. If you’re in the market for a used system, in other words, this is a large risk with the seemingly high number of banned consoles hitting the secondary market.
The problem is that when a retailer like GameStop takes a system in, it at the very most will plug the unit into a television to make sure it works. No one is going to connect the system to an Internet connection to check and see if the console has been banned. You can’t tell by looking at it, and if you find yourself in possession of a banned console, Microsoft is going to be unsympathetic to your plight.

There is no magic bullet. Many systems that have been banned are being sold with the caveat that online play has been disabled on the unit, but it’s impossible to tell how many Xbox 360 systems are being put on eBay or traded in to GameStop that can no longer go online. If you’re buying a system on the secondary market, this is a good question to ask.  If you’re buying at a store, be sure to check out the return or exchange policy if it turns out the system has been banned.

“As part of our ongoing efforts to keep Xbox LIVE safe and secure for the more than 8 million members of our community, it is our policy to ban modified consoles from the Xbox LIVE service. We have found that a small percentage of gamers are playing with modded boxes which would potentially compromise the gameplay experience for other gamers on the service. We believe that even one modded console on the system is one too many. That said, if one of our customers feels like his or her console was wrongly banned from the service, he or she can contact 1-880-4my-xbox.”

The downside to modded consoles

A pirated game is copyright infringement, not theft, and it’s doubtful that the cops are going to bust in your door simply for buying an inexpensive modded system loaded with burned games. If you’re not modding systems for profit or putting your tools online, it’s a civil, not criminal, infraction of the law. Having a modded console may put you on the wrong side of the DMCA, but the authorities have much bigger fish to fry when it comes to criminal action and lawsuits.

That being said, you’ll never be able to update your system to the newest firmware. You won’t be able to play against your friends online. So many of the features that make the Xbox 360 worth owning are tied into Xbox Live; permanently banned systems are crippled in a very tangible way. With systems available new for as low as $200 and used, non-banned systems available for less if you do some digging, it’s not worth giving up so much just to save a few bucks.

Releases of huge titles like Modern Warfare 2 lead to spikes in piracy, which is a good excuse for Microsoft to bust out the Xbox Live ban hammer. It’s doubtful that this deters pirates in any real way, but it’s an inconvenience, and may work to discourage gamers who may be tempted by piracy. So be aware of what you’re buying if you’re in the market, and be sure you understand just how much you’re giving up by buying a modded system, no matter how many games it comes with.

Fallen Earth Released

Another post-apocalyptic MMO released! Huzzah! Let’s cut to the chase. Good character customization, clean and crisp graphics, six weapon slots, and it has PVP. I haven’t yet got my hands on this but it appears to have a Fallout 3 feel to it. It’s scoring high ratings from users, with there just being one main issue. You need a fairly high end PC to run this game smoothly. Check out the trailer below and others, or Zombie Bill Murray will eat your brains.

Christian

Recent World of Warcraft Scam

Over the past few weeks I have noticed a pattern of scam activities between our customers and delivery in World of Warcraft, I’ve spoken with many of you via MSN, Email, Live Chat, etc pouring through screen shots and delivery logs to try and find out what the real cause of this problem is.

Unlike other companies in the RMT industry we do not shift blame, we do not refuse to take action or fail to investigate the situation. Any and all complaints made to us are handled ASAP and we always respond with an (accurate as possible) response. Here at Mogs we do not have a “Customer is always right” mentality. That died out in the 90’s. We are however all gamers, and we understand more than most where a customer is coming from and we look into every situation like we were looking into a problem with our own accounts.

Any trades that resulted in the customer getting scammed were reset and placed back into queue. We did this at a loss of revenue to us, someone still had to pay for that gold. But the point is, we support you just the same as you support us, and we very much value your continued business with us here at mogs.

IMPORTANT:
Under no circumstances, at any time, should you ever trade back your gold after the initial trade. If someone says they need the gold back so they can screenshot, please come immediately to live support located at the top right hand corner of our website so we can verify that is indeed the fact. Without getting into any detail as to how this scam is done, just remember, never ever ever give the gold back to anyone unless someone in Live Chat or on the Telephone asks you to.

Again, thanks for the support and appreciation, we definately appreciate you.
Jason / MOGS

NCsoft, RMT, Gold Spamming.

NCsoft, the makers of Aion have recently released a statement concerning advertising that makes use of a black hat tactic known as “gold spamming”. Gold spamming is a practice that most any player of any game can instantly recognize and absolutely can’t stand. The repetitive spam messages boasting incredible prices and claims such as, “instant delivery!”, “we’re so fast it’s probably already in your mail!” and “Buy 1000 gold and get 10% free plus a trip to Hawaii!” we’ve all seen it and most people are sick of it.

Real Money Trade (RMT) is a business based on providing services centered on virtual products such as, currency and items. There are many businesses involved in RMT and the industry as a whole has a bad name. Part of that bad name comes from the endless in game spamming that is used as a pathetic attempt to gain customers. The truly sad part is that for as many people as it annoys there must be a lot of people trying services that stoop to this level of advertising, seems more and more companies are turning to this method, but so far the vast majority of the companies that use gold spamming seem to come and go like a bad taco.

Mogs.com supports Real Money Trade; we are all for providing a service that is extremely helpful for a lot of gamers out there. However, we deplore the actions of these 2nd rate hack shops spamming everyone in game non-stop. It’s annoying, it feels desperate, and it just makes everyone in RMT look bad. We support NCsoft’s tough stance on gold spamming. NCsoft further recommends that if you are experiencing issues with chat spam you can simply right click the user’s name and choose to block the character. This of course won’t kill all of the spam, but a little bit at a time will help. NCsoft promises new tools that will also help rid Aion of these pesky spammers. Mogs.com thinks this is a great idea, take it a step further and beyond RMT’s normal controversy and simply don’t buy from companies that are inundating you with spam. Half of them want to rip you off and key log your account. We suggest taking your time and researching RMT companies, and always simply keep mogs.com in mind, we are a small Cleveland, Ohio based company that’s been working in the industry since the late 1990’s and as MOGS since 2004. We do our best to battle spam and keep it out of the game. We are gamers and we built this company with gamers in mind. Please read NCsoft’s statement here: http://uk.aiononline.com/board/notices/view?articleID=169&page=

Battle.net Authenticator on Your iPhone!

Want to be the coolest person at your next WoW party? Then check out the free Battle.net authenticator application for the iPhone and iPod touch. Ditch that pesky keychain authenticator and go high tech with Blizzard’s newest security innovation**. The Battle.net authenticator application for the iPhone/iPod touch goes everywhere you go and doesn’t get misplaced or left at home like the keychain version. You might not need your keys, but you will always have your iPhone with you, right?

World of Warcraft security? There’s an app for that!

**Be sure to read the notes in the application description for a trouble free installation.

Aion VS Spam

Aion released a patch silently this morning thats targeting a few minor bugs currently existing in the game. One of the biggest problems that can be seen in the game currently is the massive amount of in-game spam that is prevalent from the moment you create your character until you sign out.

The new patch will limit any character under level five from sending whispers, similar to general chat which also maintains this restriction.

While this is a step in the right direction, I have to say I’m not super impressed with this solution and am surprised that this kind of problem wasn’t anticipated pre-launch. That might be confusing for some of you, considering I am a “gold seller”, but truth be told that’s just not how we roll around here. We are all gamers, we play the same games you guys do and have to deal with many of the same in-game issues that you do (except for currency, haha!).

So far, as far as I can tell, this has had very little to zero effect. I still find myself getting whispers 2-3 times per minute and even if you use /anon you will still see tons of spam on the LFG and other channels.

Considering it takes about 30 minutes to reach level 5 this really won’t be very much of a limitation. A majority of spamming is done through Trial Accounts, which then raises the question, why not implement a system where Trial accounts can’t whisper anyone they aren’t befriended with? Or a privacy setting in the users account page that enables similar functionality on an opt-in basis.

While it is nice that they are actually recognizing there is a problem with spam in game, I just don’t think they have made a big enough leap yet on really curbing this practice.