World of Warcraft subs dip, 'major content update' out this year

Blizzard has announced "a slight decrease" in World of Warcraft subscribers to 11.1 million during the quarter ended June 30. Speaking during an Activision Blizzard earnings call last night, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime said the company is hard at work on new content for the MMO that it hopes will both satisfy current players and entice lapsed ones to return."In terms of subscriber growth around the world, what I would say is what we have seen is that subscribership tends to be seasonal and driven by content updates, and so as we're heading further away from an expansions launch, it's normal to see some declines.The team is currently working on our largest content update since Cataclysm and that will hit later this year," he added. "The next content update... will include major new raid and dungeon content. We believe that this new end-game content will keep the game fresh for current players and provide compelling reasons for lapsed players to come back."The recent Chinese launch of WoW: Cataclysm and a newly announced Portuguese version of WoW set for release later this year will also help boost the game's player base, Morhaime said."Aside from promoting World of Warcraft in other regions, we're taking other steps to bring more players into the community," he added. "With the new World of Warcraft Starter Edition, players are now able to play the game for free until level 20 with no time restrictions. Since the launch of this program, we've seen a significant increase in new account creations, which we hope will allow us to continue attracting new players."Blizzard made filings with the US Patent and Trademark Office last week for Mists Of Pandaria, leading to speculation they could relate to plans for a fourth World of Warcraft expansion. Tom Ivan

Diablo 3 requires constant internet connection

Blizzard has revealed that the long-awaited Diablo 3 will require players to be constantly connected to the internet, even after an initial authentication process has been completed. According to Blizzard's executive vice president of game design Rob Pardo, this requirement is due to the implementation of numerous new Battle.net and Auction House features.Those features include the following:A persistent friends list.Cross-game chat via the RealID system.Persistent characters that are stored server-side (no more having to play online once every 90 days, nor item duplication cheats).Persistent party system.Player-versus-player and public game matchmaking.Dynamic drop-in/out for co-opLarger item stash that gets shared among all of your characters (at the moment, up to 10)The auction house (allows players to sell loot for real money)The Achievement system and detailed stat-tracking, both of which feed into the final point:The Banner system, a visual way to display your skills that take into account earned achievements, the number of PVP victories etc. Banners can be clicked to teleport to other players.Blizzard's confirmed that Diablo 3 will be playable at GamesCom in Cologne, which takes place mid-August.

Savage 2 Review Wars Between Races

By Mohammed Afzal (MageMoa), Onrpg journalist Savage 2: A Tortured Soul is a great multiplayer game made by the company "S2 Games". Savage 2 is a mix of RPG (Role Playing Game) + RTS (Real Time Strategy) + FPS (First-Person Shooter).  The game is mainly fantasy themed, but there are also quite some elements that show us a some science-fiction. Savage 2 offers us a great variety of classes and great wars between races.  The game has been made Free to Play in December 2008. You will have the possibility for a one-time subscription for a premium account, though. The mix of RPG, RTS and FPS is very noticeable when you start the game. The game is instance based. This means that there is no free world you can walk in; You will have to join a room to be able to get in the game and fight. The combat of the game is not very easy to master. The combat is really action based, which means that you don’t have time to eat out of your nose. Battles are direct and you will have to take advantage of the class you’ve picked. It will be really annoying if you don’t know what to do.Apart from the classes and races, there is one special title; The Commander. The Commander can be seen as a God; You practically have power to buff your allies and debuff your enemies. A Commander views the game from above; He will not be able to fight himself, but the can help his allies by telling them where the enemy is and by building towers and lairs. The most confusing part of the game; The races and classes. The game offers us two races; "The Legion of Man" and "The Beast Horde". You’ll be able to choose one of them whenever you enter a room. You will also be able to change your race whenever you want. These two races have to fight against each other. You practically team up with some other players who have joined the same race and when there are enough players, you will be able to enter the game and choose a class. Each race has seven classes with different spells and stats. There are also three special classes which are obtainable by both races. The requirement for these special classes is to have a Hell Shrine.Let me explain all the classes briefly: Human classes:
Builder - The name says everything already. The builder is the building class of the game. They are able to build buildings, but they also have the ability to protect and repair the current buildings. They carry a hammer, but they also have two guns which allows them to shoot opponents from a distance. Scout/Marksman - This class specializes in quick attacks and hiding. It is a very fast class which is mostly used to get into the enemies’ lair to destroy their buildings. They carry a dagger, but they also have a crossbow and an overpowered bow. Savage - They are the warriors of the human race. They are experts in keeping the enemy away. They can also be used as a shield to keep the enemies away from the scouts. They carry two blades, but they also have a machine gun and a rifle. Legionnaire - The strongest warriors of the human race. They have decent defense and a high amount of health. They can finish their opponents quickly, but this class also requires a small fee before it can be used. They carry a huge axe, but they also have a grenade launcher and a rocket launcher.  This class is really overpowered in my opinion. They can do so much harm without dieing. Chaplain - This is the only magical class of the human race. They have the ability to heal and resurrect and they also have an offensive spell, but this is a pretty weak spell. The only weapon they have is a staff.  Chaplain is the weakest class of the human race. They can’t deal severe damage and their defense and health is also very low. Steambuchet & Battering Ram - These two classes vehicles can be driven by paying an amount of money. They are mostly used to destroy the buildings of the enemy. They have a high amount of health and armor and they are also able to hit with very high damage.
Beast classes:
Conjurer - The builders of the beast race. They have the ability to build and repair buildings, just like the builders of the human class, but they can also use magical attacks to hurt their foes or entangle them. They don’t have any weapon; They use their claws to deal damage. Shapeshifter - One of the most amusing classes. They have magical attacks, but their greatest ability is the ability to polymorph. This basically means that they will turn into their enemy for a small time and then they will be able to sneak to the opponent’s lair to use the spell "Sacrifice" to deal severe damage to their lair. Hunter - Practically the same as the Savage. They deal melee damage, but they also have some magical spells.
They use their claws to attack. Predator - The magical legionnaire. They have magical attacks combined with buffs and curses.
They also use their claws to attack. Shaman - This class mostly focuses on keeping his allies alive. It has many buffs, one healing spells and a resurrection spell. Their weapon is a huge hammer that doesn’t deal a lot of damage at all. This is probably the weakest class of the game. Tempest & Behemoth - Huge demons with AoE (Area of Effect) spells to keep their enemies away. Their function is equal to the Steambuchet and Battering Ram. Special classes:
Revenant, Devourer and Malphas -  These three demonic monsters are the special classes of the game. They can only be obtained by the team that has built the Hell Shrine. These classes have great defense, decent amount of health and they deal decent damage. The most used special class is the Malphas. They deal the highest damage of the three and they have effective fire spells. It is hard for the other team to destroy these special classes, because they are so overpowered. You have practically lost the game if you are not able to destroy these huge, disgusting monsters, because they will take your whole team out in a second. The storyline of the game, which can be found on their website, tells us more about the game and its characters.
Even though the game is mostly action based, it is a good read and I would recommend you all to read it before playing the game; It makes things more understandable and you will enjoy the game even more! The graphics of the game are extraordinary; They are very detailed and colorful.  The best thing of the graphics is that they make the game very realistic and it almost feels like you are in the game. There is also blood in the game for the blood lovers under us. Since the game is instance based, there are practically no features; the game is no more than a fight between two races in four different maps... What else would you expect from a free game? I personally think that the game is one of the most challenging and amusing free MMOGs that exist. It is a good game to spend some time on and you will be busy for quite a while.
However, I think that there is a lack of content. There are only a few maps and you’ve seen everything of the game after a few matches. If they would only have added more things to do, then the game would be amazing... Pros:
- Great graphics
- Challenging combat
- Wide variety of classes
- Unique gameplay Cons:
- Lack of content