The over all system is very similar to the one used in Dark Age of Camelot. This is not a bad thing, given that DAoC had one of the absolute best large-scale PvP systems in MMOs. In Guild Wars 2, three servers (as opposed to realms/factions) are pitted against each other for a two week period. Three servers, as opposed to two, lends itself to a more balanced competition where one side can’t easily dominate over another – something that fans of Dark Age of Camelot and PlanetSide will likely appreciate. Players can capture and defend large keeps, smaller towers, or even smaller villages and camps. To take over one of these, players can make use of siege weapons, NPC mercenaries, and their own large forces to take on the PC and NPC defenders.

There are four areas in the Mists – where the PvP areas are located. Each server has their own home area where they have the advantage, referred to as “Borderlands” with a central, neutral area in the center, complete with a massive keep. ArenaNet has stated that these maps “are the largest maps [they] can make in Guild Wars 2,” and can handle at least hundred players from each side.

While large keeps will take a massive force to conquer, towers can be done with smaller groups, and smaller camps by a group of determined players. Taking them over is useful, because towers provide a universal resource called “supply” which enables the construction of siege weapons as well as the ability to reinforce the defenses of towers and keeps. Taking them over means your side is getting a benefit and denying that benefit to your opponents.

In addition to control points like keeps and towers, players can capture Orbs of Power for their server. These Orbs provide bonuses to the side that holds them. Each side stars with one Orb, but they can capture an enemy Orb to both deny them the benefits of them, and to amplify their own bonuses. These bonuses are in addition to the ones that a server can gain when they capture towers and keeps.

Guild Wars 2 seems to be very focused on not letting levels get in the way of fun, so every character that wanders into the Mists for World vs World PvP will be automatically boosted to the 80 level cap. That isn’t a permanent increase, and players will also continue to earn experience to their actual level.

Valve has a long history of being pretty good about both of those things though. Many of their biggest titles have started as mods, such as Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, and of course, the upcoming Dota 2, and Valve has generally been pretty good about providing support for community modifications in their games.

LAN mode is something that they are currently working on, but according to Valve it hasn’t been completed mainly because they have “been focused on matchmaking,” but that they “know how important this feature is for the community.”

Unfortunately, we still don’t know when the game will be released, or if it will be a free-to-play title or not. However, Valve has noted that we will be seeing a second “The International” eSports tournament, this time held in Seattle. You remember that one, right? It had a $1.6 million prize pot, and $1 million for the winner. Valve has stated that the prize pool for this next one will be “At least” that size.

You can learn even more over at joinDOTA.com’s interview with Valve’s Erik Johnson.

The co-op mode in Mass Effect 3 will allow players to band together with friends to take on missions against the invading Reaper forces (and potentially other missions, too). Players will be able to create their own character from a variety of the alien species featured in the game. Mass Effect 3 will be officially launching in North America on March 6^th, and shortly there after in other regions.

We don’t know about you, but we’re off to create our own little crew of galactic misfits to bring the hurt down on the Reapers (okay, after the work day…).

If you’ve missed the posts on reddit and a dozen gaming blogs already, here’s the rundown before we get into the bigger picture: Much like how we learned that Thief 4 (Or Thi4f as one of our followers on Facebook insisted, even though we choose to ignore the logo) will potentially have multiplayer options, this information comes from LinkedIn profiles, and also one job listing on their website. The job listing states that Spark Unlimited is working on the title because they are developing “a 3^rd Person Action/Adventure sequel in a high-profile science fiction franchise.” When noted that another employee from Spark Unlimited stated that he had been working on a “sword-fighting game for a well-known IP” and another profile describing a “third-person shooter,” things start sounding very Star Warsy, indeed.

If you aren’t familiar with the Battlefront series, they’re basically Battlefield-styled games set in Star Wars. The appeal is pretty straight forward and obvious. Given that in the past, players have been able to play as both soldiers and Jedi characters, it isn’t hard to figure out why a sci-fi third person action/adventure sequel for a popular IP that includes sword-fighting and third-person shooting could sound exactly like a Battlefront game. There are  several problems with this theory, though.

The biggest problem is, there’s nothing to suggest that Spark Unlimited is only working on a single game. The third-person shooter and sword-fighting games could be completely different titles. Both of Spark Unlimited’s prior games released in 2008, which suggests that they were being developed at the same time. It seems reasonable that they are, once again, working on two different games. The job opening could be for either of those titles.

For all we know, Spark Unlimited could somehow be working on The Force Unleashed 3 or even a new Jedi Knight game, which traditionally has been both a (laser)sword-fighting game and FPS. Mind you, we’d welcome a new Jedi Knight game with open arms and great joy, but that’s a pretty different game than Battlefront. There’s also absolutely nothing to suggest that the game is even a Star Wars game. They could just as easily be making a third-person version of Star Trek: Elite Force 3 and a hack-and-slash fantasy game on the side. There are a lot of big name Sci-Fi universes out there that have already had games set in them.

While we’ve been fairly negative on this rumor so far, there is a glimmer of hope. Last year Spark released a Tweet regarding an upcoming game stating ” “Publisher hasn’t stated when or where the announcement will take place, the time and place could be close or far, far away.” Indeed, the answers that Spark Unlimited have been publishing on their Twitter profile of late have been interesting. They’ve done nothing to deny the rumor outright, but instead they’ve been stated that they aren’t allowed to reveal what they are working on just yet.

Do we hope it is Star Wars: Battlefront 3? Don’t think for a second we wouldn’t jump at the chance to play a sequel. It isn’t our goal to say that this is absolutely not in development, but rather to carefully consider the actual evidence that has been found so far. We’re going to adjust our expectations and not get our hopes up too much and we recommend doing the same. After all, if it turns out that we’re wrong to be skeptical, it’ll be all the sweeter.

With major tournaments having already been held for Dota 2, and plenty more in the works, it is no surprise that the game already boasts a large eSports following. It also doesn’t help that it is a direct port of the original DotA, making it relatively easy for the pros to transition over. However, having massive tournaments running on software that is in testing has some difficulties. Having a stable version, even if not a final released version, could be a big help.

What the Dota 2 team specifically said was that this would allow them to “build new features while minimizing the risk of destabilizing the game for everyone.” This could also allow them to step up the rate of development, allowing them to push more experimental builds out.

Everyone with access to Dota 2 will be able to access the test client, or otherwise continue playing on ‘as is’ with the stable version. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this will allow anyone beyond those who’ve already gained access to play.