Andy Wood

It’s that time of year again when MMOs can really show off their whole dynamic world stuff, giving specialized content depending on the season and time of year. Right now, several MMOs are holding, or will be holding Halloween based events. Here’s just a few:

World of Warcraft – Hallow’s End

Trick or Treat!
Every year during Hallow’s End, adventurers celebrate the time when the Forsaken broke away from the Scourge. Heroes for the Horde and Alliance can speak with any innkeeper and get a Treat Bag with a fun surprise inside!
Candy Buckets
Candy Buckets are located in the inns throughout Eastern Kingdoms, Kalimdor, and Outland. Just walk up to a bucket (with a ! over it) and loot it.
The Headless Horseman
Adventurers who find themselves in Goldshire, Azure Watch, Kharanos, Brill, Razor Hill, or Silvermoon City may stumble upon the Headless Horseman as he flies over the town, inciting terror in the populace and setting their homes and buildings ablaze!

City of Heroes: Halloween Event 2008

Zombies
These homely fellows seem to be literally rising from the ground beneath us and attacking heroes, villains and citizens without discrimination. Their taste in fashion is despicable, not to mention the flies and the smell! Be sure to have the zone event channel added to one of your chat tabs in-game to see the event notifications and take part in all the fun!
Badges, Temporary Costumes and Other Rewards
But know this! With new challenges come new rewards! All of last year’s trick or treating goodies are back this year. Heroes and Villains can collect Classical Costumes (and wear them) for Trick or Treating throughout the city. Badges will be available for those who collect the most Classical Costumes. It’s almost enough to make heroes and villains set their differences aside. Almost.
Old Enemies Return
Ravenwing Cabal’s Annah will be in Croatoa to explain more about some of the activities, as will Granny Beldam in Nerva Archipelago.

Warhammer: Witching Night

One of the many things I do is working out a plan for our live events. Just recently we all had time to look up from our computer screens to realize that Halloween was right around the corner and we’d like to provide some fun stuff to celebrate the occasion! So, you know what would be cool? How about a sneak peak at what we’re prepping for the Halloween season – known as “Witching Night” in the Warhammer universe when the divisions between the living and the dead grow thin, and the power of Shyish, the Purple Wind of Magic, waxes. Evil cults, witches, and necromancers use this time to their advantage, easily raising the dead and calling upon them to spread wickedness across the land.

 
I love those moments in Public Quests when, on the final stage, the enormous boss monster stomps into the area and the final, epic conclusion begins to draw near. What will that boss do? Will he cast a nasty DOT? Perhaps he’ll throw us all back into the aggressive monsters waiting along the fringes? It’s a great adrenalin rush! Also equally, if not more so, are those moments in RvR when you’re attacking the keep doors while the enemy pours down boiling oil, siege weapons are firing on both sides, and any moment you’ll storm into the Keep where the final outcome will be decided! You know what would be cool? What if we combine the two? In the skirmish areas around the entire world during the Halloween holiday, there will be boss monsters lurking for players to kill. They’ll have cool loot on them, of course, so players from both sides will want to take them down. I’m sure Order and Destruction will play nicely with each other and share equally with each other for the spoils of the fight – yeah right! What else would you expect from a Warhammer holiday? Trick-or-treating? Nah! Beating people over the head? Oh yeah!

“We are changing our approach to our minis product line,” Wizards of the Coast Senior Brand Manager for D&D Scott Rouse said of the company’s major changes to Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures. WotC will move the line away from fully randomized packaging beginning next year. The final 2008 release, Demonweb, will be the last D&D Minis release sold in that format. WotC will also offer more player character minis and more large figures.

Two new series will begin in 2009: Players Handbook Heroes and Monster Manual.

Players Handbook Heroes will feature player character races and classes described in the Player’s Handbook and Player’s Handbook 2. The first of two series planned for 2009 will include 18 figures sold in six different packs of three, all of which will be fully visible, for $10.99 MSRP. The six packs will be:

Martial Heroes 1

Martial Heroes 2

Arcane Heroes 1

Arcane Heroes 2

Divine Heroes 1

Primal Heroes 1

Each pack will include two male figures and one female and corresponding power cards. The set releases in Spring 2009, with one more Heroes set planned for 2009. Three Heroes series are planned for 2010.

The Spring 2009 Monster Manual release, Dangerous Delves, will be partially randomized. The 40-miniature set will come packaged in five mini packs, each with one visible figure, one rare figure, one uncommon figure, two common figures, and stat cards, all for $14.99 MSRP. The figures will be a mixture of medium and large figures.