The simply named Update 6 has come to the MMO of The Elder Scrolls Online, adding a load of changes to the game which are being celebrated by its players.

The two big things are changes to the way inventories work, regarding things like mounts and costumes, as well as the Justice system finally being implemented meaning that NPCs can finally be mugged and murdered. The game is finally allowing you to be as much of a dick as you were to NPCs in Skyrim or other Elder Scrolls Games.

The inventory change removes things like mounts and costumes from your inventory and puts them in their own separate part of the user interface now, meaning that they no longer take up space you could be using to carry around other items. Skills you gain related to riding also now stay with your character instead of with the mount you’re riding, enabling the carrying ahead of riding skill that previously you couldn’t do.

The Justice system of course is one that the players have been waiting for since it was announced last year. NPCs can now be chased down, stolen from, mugged and murdered and you can actively choose to live a life of crime. The other side of it of course is that you will become wanted and gain a bounty on your head, guards will chase you down to punish you and other players can choose to chase you down and kill you for the bounty money.

Reception has been greatly positive from players over on the ESO subreddit as well as on the official forum. Check out the official post on the patch here.

Last week the world said goodbye to Spock as actor Leonard Nimoy passed away at 83. As a mark of respect the studio behind MMO Star Trek Online held a vigil for the deceased on the game’s planet Vulcan in which many players attended. Now there’s been more tributes added in game, not just for Nimoy but for other notable Star Trek related people who passed away before Nimoy.

Cryptic Studios have added not one but two statues to the game, the first on the fountain where the players gathered to pay their respects with the inscription of “Live long and prosper”, replacing the central structure that was already in place. A similar statue will also be added to New Romulus  with the inscription “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few” to commemorate the character’s drive towards Vulcan and Romulan reunification in the series.

Black flags of mourning will also be hung in Earth Spacedock, Qo’noS and New Romulus so everyone passing through those hubs can mourn Nimoy’s passing.

Memorial plaques will be put into each location as well, bearing not just Nimoy’s name but those of the other Star Trek people who have passed away in years past. The memorial plaques can be interacted with and along with the names will show the dates of birth and passing, as well as a personal quote where possible. The names on each plaque will be Majel Barrett, James Doohan, DeForest Kelly, Leonard Nimoy and Gene Roddenberry.

Players help to shape the world of Elite: Dangerous and one community goal saw the building of a new spaceport at New Yembo. Since then Frontier have been quizzing the community on names for it.

Many names were suggested from those used for spacecraft in popular media to even suggestions that it be named in honour of the deceased Leonard Nimoy (who instead had tribute paid by placing a station bearing his name around the game’s planet Vulcan). Finally the competition has closed and Frontier have looked through the entries to decide on a name. The starport will be named “Unity”.

On the forum Community Manager Edward Lewis announced the naming of the station, saying  that the name of Unity was “a very popular choice by the community” and saying that because unity meant that things were united as a whole, it felt like a fitting name for a station built as a result of the community’s efforts in-game.

Frontier Forum “Community Goal Starport named”: [x]

Final Fantasy XIV has offered some free time to inactive players of the game as a celebration for the reaching of a new milestone for the game – they’ve bypassed the four million mark on the total of account registrations.

This of course is registrations, not subscriptions. World of Warcraft still far and away holds the subscription record right now having bypassed the ten million mark; but Square Enix aren’t doing too badly in an MMO industry where you need to have a good game to keep people paying a monthly fee to play.

The free play time is aimed at players who have let their subscriptions lapse and will be running until March 9th 1 AM PDT. To qualify you need to have purchased and registered the game and have your account currently be inactive, a status you can check on Square Enix’s website if you’re unsure.

It seems Square Enix have really turned around XIV as a game, given that before its relaunch as A Realm Reborn it was not considered a good game at all and was once described as having “greatly damaged” the brand of Final Fantasy by Square Enix’s CEO. To have reached 4 million registrations is very positive news for the company.

If you haven’t ever played the game before, Square Enix do offer a 14-day free trial for you to try out. It does have some limits though, like having a level cap of 20.

Star Trek is often listed as one of the factors that led a good many game developers to begin dreaming of doing wonderful things, especially for those people who would eventually go on to make wide open-world space games such as Eve Online and Elite: Dangerous. So the passing away of Leonard Nimoy who played the popular and fondly-remembered character Spock has understandably prompted tributes from studios across the industry.

Upon hearing the news, most studios took to their Twitter accounts and other social networks to post the news and their condolences to his family and friends.

o7 Mister Nimoy, you will be missed. pic.twitter.com/Ah0Bn0LNGP

— EVE Online (@EveOnline) February 27, 2015

RIP Leonard Nimoy #LLAP and Thank you! pic.twitter.com/hUbXDg2GiD — Konami (@Konami) February 27, 2015

Peace and long life. #LLAP pic.twitter.com/2YS1DwmKoV

— World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) February 27, 2015

A blast from the past with Leonard Nimoy. LLAP http://t.co/klK4abC6YB — Star Trek Online (@trekonlinegame) February 27, 2015

The last of those above, Star Trek Online by Cryptic Studios obviously did a bit more than tweet though. Nimoy had been involved with the game, helping to announce it back in 2008, and recording lines for the game although Spock doesn’t appear in the game himself. Shortly after the news had been announced they requested that players join them in-game on the planet of Vulcan for a solemn vigil in which to pay respects. Many players flocked to stand around a fountain on the planet, with many instances of the location having to be created so while for players it seemed that they were only one of about 20 people in reality across all created instances there were over a thousand players standing in tribute for Nimoy.

The news was also announced last night on the game’s forums that Cryptic will be adding a memorial to the game this Thursday as part of the game’s weekly updates.

I want to once again express my heartfelt condolences to the friends, family, and fans of Leonard Nimoy. Everyone at Cryptic Studios was saddened to hear of his passing and we want to make sure we never forget the cultural impact of the man or the character he played. To that end, the Star Trek Online team will implement a standing in-game memorial to Spock and Leonard Nimoy this Thursday March 5th with our regular weekly maintenance.

In this way, we hope to keep his memory as alive in our game as he is in all of our hearts.#

LLAP

Steve Ricossa
Executive Producer

Elite: Dangerous has also announced the addition of a tribute in-game for Nimoy, planning to add a new space station to the LHS 3006 system orbiting the game’s version of the planet Vulcan. It will be named ‘Nimoy Station’.