October 1, 2024
Blizzard's Netflix adaptations Canceled Due to Legal Battle
Written by Alleine Dragonfyre | Reported by Asclepius
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NEWS ON THE HOUR October 1 2024
In this edition of NEWS ON THE HOUR:
Local Stars Reach and Shroud of the Avatar News & Player Events
Blizzard's Netflix adaptations Canceled Due to Legal Battle
Once Human Players Outraged Over Costly Event Crates
Marvel and DC Lose Superhero" Trademark Rights
Starfield Expansion Shattered Space and New Patch
Console Creator Ken Kutaragi Told Playstation Would Fail
On Avatars Radio this week:
Monday at 5 pm PST is Podcasts & Poetry with yours truly, Asclepius, highlighting stories written and performed by community members. Like always, I’m hunting for voice actors and writers, so contact me in-game or on Discord if you’re interested.
Friday at 6 pm PST is Phase Shift, an electronic dance music show with Alleine Dragonyfre.
On Sunday, October 6th and 20th, at 4 pm PST, Dark Lord Celith Wraine takes to the airwaves with his Faster! Louder! Psychedelic Eclectic Rock Mix.
Here’s our live show schedule.
STARS REACH NEWS
Playable Worlds CEO Raph Koster recently attended Unity’s Unite 2024 Conference in Barcelona, where he shared insights about Stars Reach. He reflected on his experience of the event in a blog post on StarsReach.com, complete with behind-the-scenes photos.
Koster took the stage twice during the conference, discussing both the game’s innovative terrain generation system and the cutting-edge technology behind it. Koster explained that Stars Reach uses procedural generation to create varied landscapes, but they’ve designed a custom system to ensure these landscapes still fit the game's design criteria—no endless, repetitive "bowls of oatmeal," as he put it.
The tools they use allow their designers to define key rules for things like canyon width and slope steepness, keeping the gameplay fun while still allowing endless variations. He also discussed their use of Unity’s DOTS framework, noting that Playable Worlds has contributed back to the engine by improving performance in Unity’s physics and networking systems, now available to all developers.
Koster’s joint presentation with Amazon Web Services highlighted how they use AWS for Stars Reach's backend infrastructure, balancing the need for innovation with a pragmatic approach of not reinventing the wheel. He described how their simulation system operates outside the Unity engine, and how their custom tools allow them to fine-tune planetary generation by embedding real-world materials like quartz into the terrain.
Outside the presentations, Koster shared his personal experience of Barcelona, a city on his travel bucket list. He had the chance to visit landmarks such as La Sagrada Familia and Sant Pau, while also enjoying the food and culture of the city. Between networking with potential partners and connecting with existing collaborators, Koster reflected on the busy, but rewarding, week.
For more updates on Stars Reach, keep your dial tuned to Avatars Radio!
NEWS IN NOVIA
A monthly fishing contest, organized by the town of Rajazel, runs from September 27, 2024, to October 30, 2024. Players must catch a trophy fish in towns registered for the contest. First-place winners receive gold trophies and Cotos, with different prizes for saltwater, PVP, and lava categories. Only the longest fish counts for a win, and players can only win one prize. The next contest, R131, starts November 1, 2024, featuring Fetid waters. Prize donations are welcome for future contests.
An exploration team has discovered a mine on a small island in the archipelago. During exploration, something went wrong, and only one team member escaped but suffers from amnesia. The mine will reopen if 10 adventurers volunteer by December 10, 2024, at 10:00 pm CET. The goal is to collect bounty slips, solve riddles, and catch trophy fish. Participants bring their finds to the safe zone, and the top three will win trophies and prizes, including crowns and gems. All who enter and catch a trophy fish will also get a prize, while supplies last. Visit the forums for location and details. Prize donations are welcome.
Download the free MMORPG Shroud of the Avatar
A new Troll Fight and Fish event takes place on October 19, 2024, from 1-4 PM NBT at Wolves Den in Shroud of the Avatar. Players will teleport to the Troll Fight and Fish dungeon, where they must wear required uniforms found in a trunk. After receiving a fishing license from Flair Minamoto, they will battle trolls and fish in designated areas. The largest fresh and fetid fish win 1,200 Cotos, a cloak, and a trophy, with other prizes available. Two quests are also inside the dungeon, offering special trophies.
The Lightbringer Isle Auction occurs monthly on the last Sunday of each month at 9 am Pacific. Sellers can submit items to Hemnu Lightbringer via Discord, the Auction House, or mail, including a starting bid and optional reserve price. Items must be delivered by the preceding Friday, with a 10% sales commission applied. Payments are made to sellers within 48 hours of the auction. Buyers face penalties for non-payment. All participants must maintain respect and fairness, with no price debates.
Visit the shroudoftheavatar.com/forum for details about all player events.
Avatars Radio is Chaotic Community Radio! That means you can have your Town, Shop, Guild, or other event announcements aired during NEWS ON THE HOUR at no charge - simply post your announcements on the official Shroud of the Avatar Player Events forum section, and we’ll take it from there. Don’t forget to support your local in-game radio station!
MULTIVERSE NEWS
According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, Blizzard had Netflix television adaptations of Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft in development, but a lawsuit stopped them. In 2020, Blizzard sued Netflix for hiring its then-CFO, Spencer Neumann, while he was still under contract with Blizzard. Neumann had a three-year agreement with Blizzard but left after two years to become Netflix’s CFO. Blizzard claimed Netflix violated California employment laws by poaching Neumann. The lawsuit effectively ended the plans for the Netflix adaptations of these major Blizzard franchises. Fans were left disappointed by the missed opportunity to see these stories expanded into series.
Last week, survival shooter Once Human released an update focused on a faction vs. faction PvP server. However, players are upset about the new limited-time Lightforge Celebration Crate event. The crate offers cyberpunk-themed cosmetics and a rare car skin, but the chance of getting the top prize is only 0.06%. Players can guarantee one reward after opening 30 crates, but it could cost $500 to $600. The crates require special keys bought with real money. This has led to backlash on social media, with some calling for a spending boycott.
Marvel and DC have lost their decades-long trademarks for "super hero" and "super heroes." The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled in favor of Superbabies, a comic series, after Marvel's parent company Disney and DC's Warner Bros. failed to respond to a petition filed by Superbabies. The petition argued that "superhero" is a generic term, dating back to 1909, well before Marvel or DC existed. Superbabies filed the request after DC opposed their trademark application. This ruling means that Marvel and DC can no longer stop others from using the terms in branding, but they can still use them in their own works.
Bethesda released a new update for Starfield today alongside Shattered Space, the game's first expansion DLC. The expansion costs $30 and adds new quests, weapons, and areas to explore, including Va'Ruun’kai. Shattered Space introduces survival-horror elements and new enemies. The free patch, version 1.14.70, improves quests, ship-building, and the REV-8 vehicle. It also resolves bugs affecting user interface, audio, and general gameplay performance. Bethesda provided detailed patch notes along with the minimum and recommended system requirements for Shattered Space. Both the update and expansion are live now.
Ken Kutaragi, known as the "father of the PlayStation," spoke at the 2024 Tokyo Game Show about the challenges of launching the PlayStation in the 1990s. Initially planned as a CD drive for Nintendo’s SNES, the partnership fell apart, and Sony proceeded on its own in 1994. Many industry insiders doubted the project, telling Kutaragi it would fail. Despite skepticism, Sony succeeded, changing the video game landscape. Kutaragi oversaw the development of several consoles before leaving Sony in 2007. Now 74, he remains focused on the future of gaming and envisions an era of real-time computing, driven by AI and new technology.
WARNING:
Some games
are 18+ Adult/NSFW