April 16 [2008]

Team Fortress 2 Medic’s upcoming arsenal revealed

Filed under: Patch, Team Fortress 2, Valve — wedge55 @ 9:02 AM

team fortress 2 new medic weapons

Finally, the new medic weapons being introduced in the long-awaited, much-hyped Team Fortress 2 update have been revealed. Shacknews has the scoop on each of the three new weapons, which are unlocked by earning the new medic achievements also coming with the update.

The Blutsaugher
For players that earn one third of the 36 new medic achievements, they will be given a new syringe gun. Called “The Blutsaugher,” this new weapon no longer has the ability to score critical hits against an opponent. Instead it will draw health from enemies each time a syringe hits. Especially useful as a weapon to retreat away from the fight while staying alive.

The Critzcrieg
Once a medic has earned two thirds of the achievements, they will be granted “The Critzcrieg.” This new medigun uses its ubercharge not for invulnerability, but to give its recipient 100% chance to fire critical ordinance. Medics and the player they are charging need to be careful though, because as much fun as it is to fire critical rockets as fast as you can, the other team will see what you’re up to and try to put a quick stop to your plan.

The Ubersaw
For the determined medic that has earned all 36 of the new achievements, they will find themselves the proud owner of “The Ubersaw,” which will take damage done in melee attacks and convert it directly to ubercharge. Four hits with this new weapon will fully charge whatever medigun the medic has equpped.

With no Gamerscore, these unlockable weapons should provide all the incentive players need to earn the new medic achievements. There isn’t a dud in the bunch.

The Team Fortress 2 update will be arriving on Steam in the next couple weeks. Besides the medic weapons and achievements, the update also introduces Goldrush, a new map that uses the new Payload gametype. Rather than capture flags or fight to control designated areas, players on one team must escort an explosive-filled mine cart past the other team’s defenses, in a game mode reminiscent of Team Fortress Classic’s The Hunted.

Still no word on when any of the game’s other eight classes will receive their own new achievements and unlockable weapons.

Valve Reveals Final Team Fortress 2 Medic Weapons [Shacknews via Planet Half-Life]



April 11 [2008]

The Witcher gets patch, adventure editor

Filed under: Patch — wedge55 @ 10:53 AM

witcher adventure editor patch

In addition to about a dozen bug fixes, CD Projekt’s latest patch for their PC role-playing game The Witcher introduces a new “Price of Neutrality” questline. The new adventure clocks in at about two hours, features multiple endings, and allows players to interact with the other witchers who appeared only briefly in the main game.

CD Projekt hopes this new adventure is the first of many, and has given The Witcher’s community the tools to create future content by releasing D’jinni alongside the new patch, an adventure editor that allows players to create entirely new scenarios and mods for the game. With any luck, The Witcher will soon feature the same abundance of high-quality mods as other popular PC RPGs.

The Witcher patch 1.3 and the D’jinni adventure editor are both available from the game’s official website.

The Witcher gets Adventure Editor, Patch 1.3 and new 2 hour Adventure/Mission FREE [NeoGAF]



March 31 [2008]

Hellgate: London to get single player, multiplayer patches

Filed under: Flagship Studios, Hellgate London, Patch — wedge55 @ 8:10 AM

hellgate london 1.2 single player patch

Later this week, Flagship Studios will offer up a beta version of the Hellgate: London single player 1.2 patch, which “will match the content, balance changes, and bug fixes found in the Multiplayer version of Patch 1.2.” ‘Better late than never’ seems to be Flagship’s mantra when it comes to Hellgate: London.

The developer also plans to start testing the upcoming 1.3 multiplayer patch soon. While the exact patch notes have not yet been published, Flagship promises 1.3 will introduce the Shared Stash (a feature originally promised for launch), gambling vendors, and an increase to the amount of money a single character can carry. In other words, it’s been five months since the game’s release and Flagship is still trying to match the content Diablo 2 shipped with nine years ago.

I know it’s fun to be down on Flagship and their unending stream of very public screw-ups, but… Well, but nothing. It’s just fun to be down on Flagship.

Patch 1.2 Coming To Single Player, Patch 1.3 Nearing Test Center [Hellgatelondon.com via Gaming Today]

March 25 [2008]

World of Warcraft 2.4 patch is now live

Filed under: Games (Also Video), Games (Video), Patch, World of Warcraft — wedge55 @ 9:07 AM

wow patch 2.4 fury of the sunwell

Is there anything more exhilarating for an MMO player than patch day? After weeks of testing, World of Warcraft 2.4: Fury of the Sunwell is now live across all realms, bringing with it the excitement of change.

The titular Sunwell is now open for business, featuring the brand new, daily quest-fueled Isle of Quel’Danas as well as a 25-man raid instance and 5-man dungeon. With all the newly added daily quests, Blizzard has upped the daily quest limit from 10 to 25, insuring that players on both sides of the casual/hardcore divide will face no shortage of content to keep them playing day in and day out.

The patch also features more controversial changes, including a complete revision of the Badge of Justice system. Badges now drop from any raid boss and can be exchanged for tier 6-quality items. While many of the more casual players welcome another avenue for viable loot, many of the game’s raiding guilds feel the easy-to-acquire items devalue their previous accomplishments. Once the servers are back up, however, they should be too busy making headway in the Sunwell Plateau to keep up their ranting on the official forums.

2.4 also features a host of balance changes that have met with plenty of scrutiny from players: Improved hamstring is now subject to diminishing returns, warlocks can now summon players into instances, and mages have been buffed across the board. The hotly-debated warlock lifetap changes ultimately didn’t make it into the patch at all.

Finally, Fury of the Sunwell also introduces PvP changes to make the honor grind more bearable. Honor is now calculated instantly, and players are no longer penalized for killing the same players repeatedly. Also, Warsong Gultch, the capture the flag battleground known more for the turtling tactics it inspires than anything else, will no longer feature the hours-long stalemates that made if famous, as flag carriers take greater damage from enemy attacks the longer they hold the flag. The most skilled arena players can now try their luck on the new tournament realms.

Blizzard has suggested that 2.4 would be the final content patch before the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, but because WotLK has not yet even entered beta, Azeroth may yet see another update before players journey to Northrend.

Full patch notes after the jump.

(more…)



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