More layoffs are happening in the gaming industry, this time from NCsoft. But it's not as drastic as rumors that circulated this week claimed. Details after the jump.

It's been a while since we last heard about NCsoft's Dungeon Runners, and now we get quite the update on upcoming content. From a gnome that automatically collects all your loot for you to a channel directly catered for the use of novices, this one is certainly the considerate - if not rather unsavory - update. All the details in the full article.

Dungeon Runners players, heads up! NCsoft has just released a new content update for your MMORPG of choice. This update introduces snowmen, a new dungeon, new items, as well as improvements to the waypoint system. The full details await after the jump!

It's only recently the NCsoft released the patch notes of Dungeon Runners to treat the players to some game improvements. Now, to make things even more fun and interesting, they summoned a new monster the gamers can play with: Chill Bill.

Check out the screenshots after the jump!

Heads up, dungeon-crawling denizens of Dungeon Runners! NCsoft has released the patch notes for Dungeon Runners Chunk 2 (Build 99), and it's a doozy.

For folks who've been enjoying the game so far, there's one new addition that might jolt your senses somewhat: in-game advertising.

The Dungeon Runners patch notes after the jump!

 

The patch notes for build 95 of NCsoft's Dungeon Runners have been released, and it looks like a pretty beefy update. This latest patch fixes up the recently added PvP system, as well as balances out some of the character skills among others.

Players who found the first implementation of the PvP system less-than-ideal will be happy to know that matchmaking is now faster and that the computer now keeps matches fair with the new feature developers introduced called "Magical" Rebalancing.

This automatically adjusts the health and damage a players deal depending on how many players are on a team and how many opponents they're facing. The build also sees two new additional skills as well as some tweaks for the existing ones.

Fighters will be happy to find out that they've been given new skills: Light in the Loafers and Mad Melee Mastery. Light in the Loafers allows a warrior to move at 100% movement speed regardless of any speed de-buffs.

Mad Melee Mastery, furthermore, grants a boost in the melee attack rating at the expense of 20% health. Here are a few of the other adjustments in the patch:

• Spirit of the Hare - The chance to lose the speed increase granted by Spirit of the Hare has been reduced to 25% (down from 50%).
• Fear of Gosh - Fear of Gosh now required a successful melee attack roll to be effective. When an enemy is affected by Fear of Gosh, their movement rate will be reduced by 50%.
• Holy Roller - Holy Roller now requires a successful melee attack roll to be effective. Sorry mages, but this was just too powerful for you in PvP! It has also been changed to a weapon-based cool down skill, making folks with faster attack speeds able to use this skill more often. The movement speed modifier has been more than doubled and the base cool down has been increased.
• Acidic Blight - Acidic Blight has a new visual effect and icon… as well as being considered a “poison” attack for resistance purposes.
• Unnerving Shout - Unnerving Shout has a new visual and sound effect as well as being considered a "divine" attack for resistance purposes.
• Ice Bolt - The attack speed de-buff granted by Ice Bolt has been reduced to 20% (down from 40%).

The rest of the patch notes can be found by following our Read Link below.

NCsoft has released its E3 line-up which the press release called the "market's most anticipated online games". Whether this is true or not is up to you, but there is no doubt that the games are pretty good.

Apparently, this feeling is echoed by none other than creator of Tabula Rasa and NCsoft North America CEO Robert Garriott. He gave some very strong opinions regarding the games to released and how he sees the E3 as a staging point in bringing the company's games to the mass market.

NCsoft strives to deliver the highest quality online entertainment possible, and these products represent the next generation of online games.

This E3 meeting will provide a window for the public to see the breadth of the variety of game genres and business models NCsoft provides, as well as show off how advanced and exciting our products are.

So with that said, let's take a look at the NCsoft line-up and see what all the fuss is about:

• Richard Garriot's Tabula Rasa
• Set to launch this fall, what better place to showcase Tabula Rasa than arguably the biggest expo this year? The game will have features such as character cloning system, dynamic battlefields with contested control points, deep storylines with ethical parables, and fully integrated voice chat. Will this game deliver the goods?
• Aion
• An offering from the NCsoft’s Seoul studios, Aion is referred to by the press-release as "one of the most visually stunning MMOs in development." The game is set in a fantasy world where divine beings wage a war that will determine the future of the world. This is set for release in 2008.
• Guild Wars: Eye of the North
• Guild Wars: Eye of the North is the first true expansion to the Guild Wars series. The expansion adds lots of new content and will have no monthly fees to play online. It is set for release on August 31 for US$ 39.99.
• Dungeon Runners
• A free to download and play MMORPG, Dungeon Runners is set in a medieval world where players beat up monsters and get loot. It is already available and will have lots of new content added to it through the summer.

This is a respectable line-up for NCsoft this E3 but will these games really draw as much attention as NCsoft hopes it will? That's a question for greater minds than mine. More E3 lineups as they get released.

NCSoft North America has earlier announced that Dungeon Runners, its first free-to-download and play game, is now officially open to the public. To entice the various gamer tribes scattered all over the earth, NCSoft also released a few screenshots and concept art from Dungeon Runners. You can check 'em out below.

Dungeon Runners is currently available for free through digital download at dungeonrunners.com and, as we mentioned earlier, has a play-for-free tier where players can access large chunks of the game's content. Players who have the money can also opt to become members for US$ 4.99 per month for quite a few perks and access to the most powerful gear in the game.

"There are plenty of other 'free' games available for online RPG fans, but none that packs as many features as Dungeon Runners has or comes with the NCsoft stamp of quality," said Robert Garriott, CEO of NCsoft North America. "We expect that players will receive this game warmly because it is fast, fun and free. It is hard to beat that deal."

   

More screenshots and concept art after the jump!

 

NCsoft's Dungeon Runners is now out, and it's free to play. This MMORPG features gameplay which has been compared to Diablo and Dungeon Siege. It's pretty awesome, however most of the game's really cool features can only be accessible if you're a paying member.

The fees are pretty low for an MMORPG, going for only US$ 4.99 a month. Becoming a member gives you the ability to use the higher end weapons, stack potions in your inventory, and access a personal "bank account" with 250 storage slots. In addition to this, you will get priority when the servers are full, i.e. you jump to the front of the queue when logging in, bypassing non-paying members.

That's all well and good, but the more important question is: what does this game have to offer you? Well, the guys at NCsoft were nice enough to provide a short list on the features on the game on their main site.

Features:

• Three character classes: Fighter, Mage, or Ranger. Each can learn powerful magic and deadly weapon skills.
• Progress in power as you gain levels and acquire new treasures.
• Some dungeons can be completed quickly, rewarding those who can only invest 15 minutes a play session. Greater dungeons, however, will provide a deep, rich, questing experience for those who want to go on longer runs or multi-part quests.
• Easy to control with either ‘WASD’ or point and click combat and movement.
• Adventure alone or join with online friends to form your own band of heroes.
• Undertake quests to rid the world of unspeakable horrors and legions of enemies.
• Gather in the public area of Townston, and then quickly hop into a new adventure in your very own instanced dungeon.
• Become a legend. Bask in the limelight as your powers, equipment, and influence grow with each successful quest and every fallen foe.
• Randomly generated dungeons may contain any number of special rooms, different monster encounters and more! Each dungeon is always fresh, providing limitless re-playability.
• Game content will continually grow: new maps, monsters, powers, and much, much more!
• Literally thousands of magic weapons, items, and armor to discover!

For those who aren't willing to bite the bullet and want to keep playing for free, NCsoft has given word that this game will be free forever. That means even if you do decide to become a paying member and miss a payment, you can still enjoy the game albeit without the perks that membership grants you.

If you want to try the game out yourself, you can hop over to the Dungeon Runners site via our read link for full instructions on how to do so.

NCSoft, the people behind the upcoming MMORPG Dungeon Runners, have announced that they will be testing the billing process for the game on January 31. Now, some of you may be a bit taken aback since Dungeon Runners is supposed to be a free-to-play game, so take note of the following: the basic game of Dungeon Runners will always be free to download and play, but there will be a membership package that offers some good reasons to pay US$ 4.99 a month.

Some of the benefits that membership brings include the following:

• Access to all top level armor, weapons and items. Not only will you be more powerful than non-members, with superior stats - you'll also look cooler than them as irrefutably determined by our science team.
• Stackable potions - taking up far less room in your inventory and therefore allowing space for many more potions than normal (you'll need 'em where you’re going) and of course for all that lovely loot
• Log-in queue priority. If the Dungeons are full, you jump to the head of the log-in queue. Enjoy a rush of superiority as you glide by the 'common people'.
• Hold on to more stuff! Members get access to the Dungeon Runners bank – essentially a storage facility. As you know, you pick up a LOT of stuff in Dungeon Runners. Imagine being forced to sell or simply drop loot just because your inventory is maxed out and there’s nowhere else to keep your stuff. That would suck. This prevents or at least alleviates the suckage.

What about players who currently have in-game items that are considered "members-only"? What happens to them when billing goes live? Here's the answer straight from NCSoft:

If you decide to continue playing Dungeon Runners without membership all your members-only items and privileges will become inaccessible. Your items will appear in your inventory, but you won't be able to use them or gain any benefits from them. You can hold onto them (they’ll take up inventory space), sell them or drop them.

If you decide to become a member, you can carry on as before with full access to everything.

Our suggestion? Sell 'em off and make a few bucks in the process.