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Massively Exclusive: RIFT reveals the Oracle soul
Tomorrow, Trion Worlds is set to reveal another of RIFT's planned new souls, the Oracle, but Massively has an exclusive preview and lore piece for you today. Arriving in RIFT's 2.7 upcoming patch, the Oracle is a Cleric soul that allows the equipper to buff and debuff large groups using water and death magic. Oracles arrive from a dark future where their mastery-level support skills have forestalled the annihilation of Telara. Gifted with powers of Water and Death, these versatile casters can lift entire raids to triumph with a repertoire of powerful boons, shields, heals, buffs, and curses. As a group member, they're indispensable. As an enemy, they're impossible to ignore. We've got another screenie and the official background story for the Oracle tucked after the cut. Read on!
Hands-on with the Elite: Dangerous alpha
I don't have much history with Elite. I played the original, circa 1985 on my dad's green monochrome Apple II, but frankly I didn't understand a bit of it and subsequently went back to Sundog and subLOGIC's fledgling wireframe Flight Simulator as a result. By the time Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters shipped in the early to mid 1990s, I was already losing copious amounts of my adolescence to Wing Commander, Privateer, and X-Wing, all of them of course indebted to the space trading flight sim thing that David Braben and Ian Bell published a decade earlier. For all intents and purposes, then, I'm an Elite virgin despite a lifetime of playing nearly everything in the genre it inspired. And if the Elite: Dangerous alpha client is an accurate barometer, gosh have I missed out.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Fitting into the genre or forging its own?
It's been about nine months since I first got my hands on The Elder Scrolls Online. Since then, like many of you, I've been trapped on the sidelines, watching and waiting for my turn to jump into the game. This past weekend, I got my chance, but I've found my experience to be distressingly similar to those described by other journalists. Like Massively's Eliot before me, my early foundation was in console gaming, but my reason for avoiding The Elder Scrolls series was very different from his: The Elder Scrolls has always been a single-player series, and after having my world opened by MMOs, I found that going back to single-player games has become difficult. I need people! I need multiplayer options! I need MMOs. Enter The Elder Scrolls Online and my excitement for it. I knew a lot of the series' famed freeform gameplay would be cut back in exchange for letting me play alongside my friends, but that was something that I, as a series newbie, was willing to sacrifice. But while my overall impression of the game was positive, I still have this lurking sensation that something important was missing.
WildStar previews upcoming adventures
It's fortunate for adventurers on Nexus that they won't be alone. And that's not just a matter of their faction; no, they'll have a little help from the Caretaker, a sentient AI left behind by the Eldan. Yes, he may have been waiting just a little while to deal with another sentient life form, but he's certainly not bitter about untold centuries of complete neglect without any word or even so much as a steady stream of information. So when you meet him in WildStar, why not let him take you on an adventure? The latest WildStar teaser is just past the break, and it hints at how adventures will work -- players will be put into a virtual construct wherein they can choose how to proceed, with consequences depending on which choices are made. They're also replayable, allowing groups to go back through and try different choices on the second time around. Click on past the break to let the Caretaker explain it in his own words... but you might want to sit a little further back from your monitor. He's a bit on edge. [Source: Carbine Studios press release]
Previewing The Elder Scrolls Online: Massively goes to Tamriel
Have you heard that rumbling in the air over the last few months? That was the sound of millions of gamers grinding their teeth over The Elder Scrolls Online's unwavering NDA, a sound that grew ever louder as the game announced controversial preorder bonuses last month and passed the two-months-from-launch mark earlier this week. Fortunately for your dental health, that NDA is at least partly coming down today. The gaming press was invited to play a limited portion of the game last weekend, and though our readers are still under NDA, we're finally not, so at last we can pass along our experiences! Today, we present to you our impressions of last weekend's preview event and the beta so far. We've got videos on character creation, thoughts on the starting zones and storytelling, guides to skill progression and racial perks, and an overview of the state of the game from an MMO player who isn't already a nut for the series. Enjoy! The Elder Scrolls Online beta is absolutely nothing special Eliot posts his general impressions of ESO as an MMORPG fan with no Elder Scrolls baggage. A guide to character creation in The Elder Scrolls Online Larry tackles ESO's robust character creation with an in-depth video. Butt sliders included. A guide to skill progression in The Elder Scrolls Online Matt investigates ESO's skills and character progression in the noble pursuit of battlemagery. What do The Elder Scrolls Online's racial abilities mean for endgame? Larry explores just how annoyed we should be about the Imperial Edition's perks. Starting out in The Elder Scrolls Online: Coldharbour and Stros M'Kai Matthew treks through the tutorial and Daggerfall Covenant zones. Starting out in The Elder Scrolls Online: Bleakrock Isle and Khenarthi's Roost Matt scopes out the early areas of ESO's Ebonheart Pact and Aldmeri Dominion factions. Tamriel Infinium: Story and character in The Elder Scrolls Online Larry considers the quality of ESO's pivotal players and introductory story.
Tamriel Infinium: Story and character in The Elder Scrolls Online
This past weekend, ZeniMax invited the press to play its addition to the Elder Scrolls franchise: The Elder Scrolls Online. We were allowed to play any faction or race that we wanted, with the exception of the newly introduced Imperial race. We took video and screenshots. We truly wanted to see whether this game lived up to our expectations for the series, and most of all, we wanted to know why this game has hidden behind an NDA for much longer than its closest competitors. Not everyone is going to love The Elder Scrolls Online. Many of the things you find in ESO coordinate with existing MMOs, but it also has its own twists on certain aspects of the genre. Although I didn't find every moment a thrilling dive into the world of Tamriel, I did enjoy myself, and I can certainly see myself playing this game for a while. For the next few minutes, I would like to put aside the marketing strategy and the issues I have with the payment model and preorder bonuses. Let's examine just the story and the characters in the game and take the measure of their worth.
Starting out in The Elder Scrolls Online: Bleakrock Isle and Khenarthi's Roost
Everyone knows that first impressions matter, and this is especially true for MMOs. The Elder Scrolls Online starts all players in Molag Bal's realm of Coldharbour, but after their escape, they're sent to a faction-specific starting zone, each with its own questline and flavor. While Massively's Matthew has Coldharbour and the Daggerfall Covenant's starting area covered in his own piece, I had the opportunity to make my way through the starter zones of the Ebonheart Pact and the Aldmeri Dominion. The difference between the two is borderline comical. The Aldmeri Dominion is treated to a sunny tropical paradise, while the Ebonheart Pact fights its way through the frozen mountains of Skyrim. On top of that, they seem to be designed almost completely independently from one another.
Starting out in The Elder Scrolls Online: Coldharbour and Stros M'Kai
When we were planning assignments for The Elder Scrolls Online's embargo lift, I volunteered to go through and document each of the factional starting zones. This was a great plan, except for technical difficulties. I was able to play fine for the first few hours at high settings, but coming back to continue where I left off led to a series of frequent GPU crashes, even at lower settings. Fortunately, I was eventually able to make it work well enough get one zone done, and Matt stepped up to cover the other two. So today I'm going to cover the shared introductory experience, followed by the first island zone you end up on as a member of the Daggerfall Covenant. That's the faction based in the north-west of Tamriel, consisting of the magically inclined mountain kingdoms of the Bretons, the dark-skinned Redguard and their desert homeland, and the roving clans of Orsimer, better known as Orcs. I actually made a character of each faction but settled first on the very pretty Orc lass with a flower in her hair over the chubby, antlered Wood Elf and ostentatious Argonian lizard featured in the other factions. Spoilers ahead!
What do The Elder Scrolls Online's racial abilities mean for endgame?
The Elder Scrolls Online faced significant controversy when it announced that players will be able to roll a character of the Imperial race if and only if they upgrade to the Imperial Collector's Edition of the game. At the same time, ZeniMax revealed that players who preorder the game will be able to play any race in any faction, adding to player angst. In the following video, Massively's ESO columnist Larry Everett examines the skill trees and the racial abilities of two different races to see whether there is any substance to these concerns.
A guide to skill progression in The Elder Scrolls Online
In any roleplaying game, a character's identity is largely defined by his abilities, and The Elder Scrolls Online is no exception. During their adventures in Tamriel, players will develop their characters in a variety of ways, including acquiring fancy new gear, but the core progression in ESO is found in its skill advancement system. Many players of modern MMOs might be inclined to think of a character's abilities as being determined by that character's class, and that is indeed somewhat the case in ESO. However, ESO owes its genesis to a series of games renowned for its freedom of character development, and that legacy continues (albeit to a slightly lesser extent) in ESO's skill progression system, though it also takes ample cues from its contemporary MMOs as well.
A guide to character creation in The Elder Scrolls Online
Creating the perfect character in an MMO can take hours. In Elder Scrolls games, it can take longer -- mostly because you have to download mods. However, in the Elder Scrolls Online, you can't mod your character's appearance, and you might not want to anyway. In the following video, Massively ESO columnist Larry Everett takes a moment to explore the different aspects of the character creator. Who knows -- this might be the first Elder Scrolls game where you aren't forced to make a hideous Elf.
The Elder Scrolls Online beta is absolutely nothing special
I've always had a profound antipathy toward the Elder Scrolls franchise. Part of this may very well be timing; the first three major installments released when I didn't have a computer that could handle them (I was generally more of a console gamer), and so I've no memories of happily chugging away across Tamriel as a young lad to sustain me. But I've also never seen anything that's reached out and grabbed me, no inspiring bits of lore, no systems that particularly grab my interest, just the promise that "you can do anything you want" without a great deal of encouragement. The point I'm making here is that the franchise is not my jam. But that's part of the reason I wanted to try out The Elder Scrolls Online in the first place. Sure, at a glance, it seemed like a fairly generic fantasy RPG that had the weight of a franchise behind it, but that's an evaluation based on nothing but bits of story and gameplay videos. So I settled in over the past weekend to play the beta and see what all the fuss was about, to give it a more fair evaluation than one based simply on the name of the franchise and what I saw at a glance.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen reveals the mind-blowing Enchanter
We regret to inform you that the Enchanter in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen will literally blow your mind. Yes, we know, literally can now be used to mean figuratively, but we're using the classic definition here. Your mind will swell and burst. It will be messy and presumably uncomfortable. Well, all right, the class probably can't do that unless you're in the game, but if you do somehow occupy the game world, this class can totally do that. Assuming for a minute that you want to do something other than just make heads explode around you all day long, the Enchanter is set up to have a few more tricks. Enchanters can specialize as a Beguiler or a Phantasmist, with the former focusing on charms, stuns, and debuffs whilst the latter hypnotizes groups and uses them as a private army. Check out more details on the official class reveal page if you can't get enough of mind tricks. Or if you just want to know more about the head-explosion thing.
The Daily Grind: How soon do you think a game should lift its testing NDA?
As our Week in Review on Sunday showed, Sony Online Entertainment and ZeniMax Online couldn't be treating their individual NDAs more differently. The Elder Scrolls Online still has an NDA firmly in place despite the fact that launch is a mere 60 days away, whilst EverQuest Next Landmark has already abolished the NDA despite still being in obvious stated alpha. Finding two more extreme examples operating at the same time would be nigh-on impossible. The question is which one is right. On the one hand, lifting the NDA earlier implies a great deal of confidence in the game being developed. It's hard to look at a long-running NDA and think that the company behind the game is sure people will like the game on release. But on the other hand, letting people talk freely about a game can lead to no mysteries left on release, which might drive some people away and lead to overload for others. What do you think? How soon should a game lift its testing NDA? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
EQ, EQII, and EQN devs dish on new game content for The Year of EverQuest
With EverQuest Next Landmark on the horizon, EverQuest Next in the wings, and EverQuest and EverQuest II going strong, this truly is the year of EverQuest. There's simply no denying that 2014 will be pretty significant for the franchise; one game turns 15, another turns 10, and the newest turns 0. To help kick of this monumental year, I got to talk shop with producers Thom Terrazas (EQ), Holly Longdale (EQII), Terry Michaels (EQN/EQNL), and Franchise Director Dave Georgeson and hear about upcoming content slated for each of these different projects. As Georgeson put it, "It's going to be a fun month!" As a bonus, we've also added a video that shows off some of that very content.
The Elder Scrolls Online shows off group content in a new video
There are ways to interact with other players in MMOs other than via group content, but part of the fun is being able to gather up with your friends and go stomp some monsters for a bit. The Elder Scrolls Online has a new video out with the developers exploring just a fraction of the group content available in the game, ranging from bosses roaming the world to dark cultist rituals, while also offering commentary on the design goals of the various encounters. As the video states very early on, one of the major goals of the game is not to force players to group, but to provide positive incentives to encourage group play. Some of the game's quick-travel mechanisms work on this principle -- rather than simply allowing quick travel to waypoints, players can also teleport to their nearest party members, allowing a group to gather and get moving quickly. Take a look at the full video just past the break.
Exclusive preview of Guild Wars 2's Origin of Madness release
The end is near! After a brief period of peace and quiet, Guild Wars 2's update cadence will begin again, and ArenaNet has no plans to ease Tyria gently back into the groove. Next week brings the first of four releases, which will culminate in the end of GW2's Scarlet Briar story arc. Massively was invited to sit down with Colin Johanson and Meelad Sadat to discuss the teaser trailer for the upcoming release, Origin of Madness. While we can't reveal too many of the secrets we've learned about Tyria's future (we wouldn't want to spoil any big surprises), we're pleased to bring you an exclusive peek at some of the content you'll find in the January 21st release. Read on to check it out!
Star Wars: The Old Republic highlights bomb(er) ships
Bombers are not the sort of ships that dart hither and yon in Star Wars: The Old Republic. They don't skitter about in elaborate dogfights. No, they are the ships that approach their targets, use heavy shields to weather some incoming fire, and then watch as a field of mines explodes around all those ships with the darting and the skittering. The latest development blog on the official site discusses more about how bombers play in Galactic Starfighter. Various mines are available to bombers, ranging from straightforward damage mines to shield-and-power draining Ion Mines to seek-and-destroy Seeker Mines. Bombers can also field stationary Drones for both offensive and defensive purposes, with Sentry Drones taking shots at enemy ships and Repair Drones fixing up the hull of allied craft. Take a look at the full entry for more details, especially if you think you're the sort of player who might want to drop a bomb on someone.
Hands-on with Albion Online's alpha
Ever miss the old MMO days when crafting had meaning? When your friend could join up with you and on day one you could both go somewhere pretty cool, and just having that extra person could make things a smidge easier? Wish you could go back to those days without dealing with mindless grinds? Sandbox Interactive's Albion Online is perhaps something you should look into. In fact, those are the very reasons I signed up for the alpha back when I first heard about it. And now that I've played around with it a bit, I've been pleasantly surprised with my experience, though there are a few things newcomers will want to watch out for. For starters, Albion's alpha is an actual alpha, not a retitled beta for marketing purposes. If you're going to play any future alpha phases, know that they'll be rough, unfinished, and non-functional in some areas. There's no actual character creation at the moment. Heck, there isn't even a female option (sorry ladies!). You can change your portrait, but that doesn't change the way your character looks. Because it's an alpha, I'm going to only lightly cover what I couldn't play and focus more heavily on those I could.
Strife has entered closed beta
S2 Games has announced that its "second generation free-to-play MOBA," Strife, has officially shifted into closed beta. Fans of the genre will recognize S2 as the studio behind Heroes of Newerth, which itself is among the litany of games cast from the original Defense of the Ancients mold. According to the announcement, Strife is "focused on giving players an environment where they're competing with enemies, not their own teammates." S2 claims that existing MOBA issues like in-team toxicity, fighting over shared resources, and drama over designating roles have all been alleviated through the game's design. Strife's closed beta is not region-specific; invites are going out to players across the globe. The game is set for launch some time in 2014, and beta sign-ups are currently live on its official website. For a closer look, check out our hands-on with the game from August. [Source: S2 Games press release]
