Scott Kurtz, Rooster Tooth dabble in City of Heroes

NCsoft and Paragon Studios today announced a new Guest Author program for the Mission Architect user-generated content system in City of Heroes. This program invites influential writers and aspiring game or story designers to collaborate with the team behind the City of Heroes MMORPG and publish custom missions directly into the City of Heroes game using the Mission Architect system. Participants in the Guest Author program will be announced on a regular basis. The first participants of this program will be Red vs. Blue series creators Rooster Teeth and PVP creator Scott Kurtz

Rooster Teeth plans to bring Captain Dynamic and his nemesis, The Great Face, from YouTube to City of Heroes, while Kurtz plans to bring character LolBat to life within Mission Architect.

Those attending the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle this week should make time for the City of Heroes panel discussion entitled “Mission Architect: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Story.” Both Scott Kurtz and Rooster Teeth’s Joel Heyman will be on hand with City of Heroes developers to talk about their experiences creating their own unique, personalized missions for the game. The panel will be Saturday, Sept. 5th, 2:30pm - 3:30pm Raven Theatre at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center.

Warrior Epic getting PVP and more in July

True Games is working on the very first content expansion and new features for its recently launched MMORPG, Warrior Epic, the company announced today. The new expansion is scheduled to launch in July and will include all-new PVP gameplay that will be available to players who are level ten or higher. In addition, the expansion will also offer an all-new mid to high level region called “Trogken Swamps”, which will feature new missions, monsters, and unique gear.

Further details on True Games’ first major content update to its free-to-play MMORPG are to be announced. We’ll keep you posted.

Final WAR Call to Arms event detailed

Mythic Entertainment announced Rise of the Tomb Kings, the final live event in the Call to Arms live expansion for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. From June 16 until June 22, the forces of Order and Destruction will race to construct giant airships that will soon transport players into the treacherous deserts of the Land of the Dead.

The winning Realm will have exclusive first access to the new Tomb Kings themed dungeon zone, and the unimaginable wealth it contains, immediately following the conclusion of the ‘Rise of the Tomb Kings’ live event. The more ambitious adventurers will be further recognized for their contribution, with exclusive titles like “Sky Captain” for Order, and “Master of the Air” for Destruction. The dedicated players might also receive the Ravening Cloak, an ultra-rare item drop only available during the live event.

For deeper details on the event visit the game’s official site.

Pirates of the Burning Sea gets Skirmish PVP

Flying Lab Software has introduced Skirmish, a PvP system for its MMORPG title Pirates of the Burning Sea. Skirmish gives players a new way to create their own risk-free PvP battles both on land and at sea. Using a special lobby system, players can create swashbuckling or ship battles with up to 48 participants.

Flying Lab says that there are no national or career restrictions on skirmish battles, so it’s an interesting way for societies to train new members or try out more advanced tactics without losing ships and equipment.

The Skirmish system also allows players to get experience with large battles on demand, so they can experience fleet combat even when they don’t win a place in one of the Port Battles.

More details about the game and this new play mechanic can be found at www.burningsea.com.

Darkfall Online coming to U.S. in July

Aventurine SA announced this morning an expansion of its relationship with service provider GNi to host its PVP-based MMORPG, Darkfall Online, in North America. The game, which has taken a beating from reviewers in Europe, will launch sometime in July.

Darkfall Online is a fantasy-based massively multiplayer role-playing game featuring a real-time combat system, massive battles, clan warfare and empire building. Darkfall combines role-playing, action, and strategic gameplay, but the focus of the game is hardcore player versus player and clan versus clan battles.

The company says that it extended its relationship with GNi because it was satisfied with the game’s stability and presence in Europe. It also said in today’s announcement that “high demand for Darkfall” has made a North American server a priority with Aventurine. The company expects the North American server, US1, to be ready for prime time in July.

More information about the game can be found at www.darkfallonline.com .

Dokapon Journey in Stores

Atlus has released the DS version of its RPG party game, Dokapon Kingdom, to retail through North America this week. Much like the PS2 and Wii version of the game, Dokapon Journey lets you take on friends via multi- and single-card multiplayer. The game mixes humor with character development, item collection, monster slaying and player vs. player action in a board game format.

You begin each game session at Dokapon Castle, summoned by the King to aid him in reclaiming his Kingdom, which has been overrun by monsters. In exchange for your help, the King will give you the throne and the hand of his daughter, the lovely Princess Penny. The problem is that you are not alone in your quest to win her hand: adventurers controlled by other players or the game’s AI also want to get with the princess. Using a mix of guile, ill behavior and a bit of chance, players need to edge each other out by overpowering or outsmarting their opponents.

Look for the game in stores now. Check out the screens after the break to get a glimpse into this mixed up fantasy kingdom:

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Warhammer Online: A Call to Arms

Mythic Entertainment is planning to start rolling out new content for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning beginning in March called “Call to Arms.” Call to Arms will apparently include live events, new Realm vs. Realm content, two new character classes, and a brand new dungeon. The roll out begins in March and continues on until June. Some other incidentals like added functionality to the Realm Wars section of the WAR website, the opening of the official WAR Forums, and a new free trial version of the game.

A full accounting of all the new content, including some choice screenshots and art, can be found after the jump.

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