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Quests, Elves, and Dwarves coming soon to Pathfinder Online
Pathfinder Online's alpha is growing by leaps and bounds as evidenced by two upcoming builds that will take shape over the next few weeks. In them, the devs are adding in essential systems like questing along with new races. With next week's alpha 7 build, questing and companies will be introduced into the game as will possible new terrain types. Then when alpha 8 comes along, the sandbox MMO will make the jump to its early enrollment servers. This update will also include Elves, Dwarves, a graphical upgrade, expendables, storage, auction houses, banks, and more terrain options. Part of the purpose of these new builds is to conduct what the devs are calling a "cold start" to see how players advance when they begin with nothing but a club and the clothes on their back. "Everything your character possesses and every ability your character learns after that point will be totally dependent on how you choose to play the game," the devs posted. [Thanks to Chrysillis for the tip!]
The Daily Grind: What MMO topic have you changed your mind about?
One of the problems with having bold opinions is that people can call you out on them when you change your mind over time. Sure, there are some things about us and what we think that remain constant, but growth and change are a part of our lives -- and our gaming opinions. I used to hate the very idea of tablets, and now I find mine indispensable. I used to rail against real-money trading (RMT) in games but now am cautiously accepting depending on its implementation. I used to hate Elves, and now I hate Elves even more because they haven't been wiped out yet. I'm here to say that it's OK if you've changed your mind about an MMO topic over time. Today, I'd like to hear what it is and why you shifted your position! 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!
The Daily Grind: What MMO issue do we fuss about too much?
Part of the fun and joy of being involved in a communal hobby is getting into passionate "discussions" with others about various aspects of your mutual interest. This is the same in gaming as it is elsewhere and I wouldn't have it any other way. Yet sometimes I wonder if we get perhaps a tad bit too worked up over things that, honestly, do not matter -- even within MMO gaming. So what MMO issue do we fuss about too much? Are we too uptight over the whole "raiders vs. casuals" issue? Does throwing a tempter tantrum over a lack of a guild vault make us come off as spoiled children? Do we fixate on the many horrible failings of Elf culture?* Does there come a point when you just roll your eyes at another rehashed rant spouted by people who just won't let the little things go? Are we merely addicted to the drama that comes with these debates? *The answer is no. We can never badmouth Elves enough for the horrors that they have inflicted on the fantasy genre. 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!
World of Warcraft finally integrates Night Elf ears
Lest you forget, with World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, the older character models in the game will receive a huge visual update. Today Blizzard posted a preview of what the Night Elf female will look like come this fall, and it appears that she's due for more than her first change of underwear since 2004. "Overall, we've made her new model a little more defined, made some of her proportions a bit more realistic, and added a bit more muscle tone," the studio wrote. "We wanted to visually communicate that she is a fully capable warrior huntress, and small details like muscle definition help highlight that." One interesting fact about this makeover is that the Night Elf ears will finally be "fully integrated" into the model itself instead of being separate pieces that were tacked on to the head.
Jukebox Heroes: Elf music
As probably many of you know, I am no fan of the Elven menace. I won't rehash the reasons n this space, but I mention that because I do try to be a fair man. When I'm not trying to eradicate any pointy-eared immortal know-it-all tree-hugger in sight, I have been known to appreciate the Elves' musical culture. That doesn't make me a hypocrite. It just gives me slight pause before ganking the next Drizzt or Legolas. For whatever reason, Elves bring out the magic and talent in MMO composition. Elven themes are quite often among the best that a particular OST has to offer, particularly if you like airy, magical, ethereal tracks that are big on imagination and almost devoid of percussion. I've been noting the trend of excellent Elf music for years and figured I might as well devote a week to it here before going back to my Elf-bashing ways.
New Dragon's Crown trailers continue to wreck beasts
These latest Dragon's Crown trailers showcase the various ways in which the Dwarf and Elf characters are equipped to burn pig-men and mess up skeleton junk like nobody's business.
The Daily Grind: Which MMO races do you detest?
My loathing of Elves is not only well-documented here on Massively, but stretches back to my childhood. I've just never liked them, period. Maybe it's because they're the preppie cool kids in my mind's John Hughes movie, or maybe it's their incredible haughty arrogance and froofy love of flowerwear. In any case, I don't like them, I don't play them, and I feel perfectly fine wishing all manner of humiliating harm upon them. After all, they're pretend and that makes it OK, right? So in the tongue-in-cheek spirit of imaginary racism, which pretend species makes your skin crawl in MMOs? Can you not abide by Dwarves no matter what? Do Gnomes irk you? Will your eyes roll out of your head if you see another humanoid cat race invade your gaming space? Let's get our hate on this morning! Whee! 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!
City of Steam's blind-as-a-bat race
While their name might sound like something a cat hacked up in your sock drawer, the Draug are actually the latest revealed race in City of Steam. Boasting a line of noble Elfish blood dating back to whenever, the Draug eschewed adapting and instead became a reclusive society living off the remnants of its former glory. Interestingly enough, the Draug have incredibly poor eyesight, which probably should make them terrible adventurers. But in another clever City of Steam twist, the race compensate for their bad vision with bursts of sonar to "see" around them. That's right: The Draug are bat-men. And bat-women. A dev journal on the Draug talks about how this echolocation works both for and against these batfolk. While they have an advantage in low-visibility situations over normal folks, they're more blind than usual if there's a lot of noise nearby.
TERA's High Elves strut their stuff in a high-octane video
"We believe. We remember." Those are the watchwords of the High Elves of TERA, and they're not just talking about rock 'n roll, mind you. As TERA's launch approaches, En Masse is making a strong bid for the legitimacy of this race by releasing its High Elf spotlight video. It's two minutes of flips, ridiculously big weapons, and strong magic flaunted in the face of enemies everywhere. Once a conquering nation that operated under the name of the Children of Karas, the High Elves suffered a humiliating downfall and subsequently re-emerged as a force for good. While their aid to the good people of the world is welcome, they're not quite trusted as of yet. High Elves receive four unique racials: They can teleport to their home city, refill their mana, regenerate mana upon resurrection, and gather alchemy resources quickly. Check out the video after the jump and let us know if you'll be rolling a High Elf upon launch!
Eligium launches website and reveals... panda monks. Really.
Oh Blizzard, did you think you were the only company looking at kung-fu pandas for inspiration? Sorry to tell you, but panda fever is sweeping the globe, and Frogster's upcoming Eligium is going to cash in on that craze like nobody's business. Today Eligium launched its official website, replete with a beta signup form, videos, screenshots, and forums. On top of that, Frogster announced two of the fantasy free-to-play MMO's races: Pandas and Elves. The Pandas are described as "masters of the martial arts" as they harness their chi to unleash it on their enemies. At level 15, Panda players can choose between two skill specializations, including Fire Breather. The Elves, on the other hand, fit more into standard fantasy tropes, being experts at archery and trees. The race will eventually segregate into either a defensive or long-range attack skillset. You can take a gander at Eligium's goodies and sign up for the closed beta over on the official site. [Source: Frogster press release]
Leaderboard: GW's Gwen vs. EQ's Firiona Vie
Like breakfast cereals and discount tire retailers, MMO companies have a long tradition of cultivating mascots to promote their games. Typically, said mascot is on the cover, shows as much cleavage as the ESRB allows, and is shooting rainbow magic from her navel. Or something. Today, Leaderboard is pitting two of the more well-known MMO mascots against one another, sort of like Top Model if Top Model contained three-dimensional characters. In the left corner is Guild Wars' Gwen, an orphan, refugee, warrior, and storybook princess all rolled into one. In the right corner is Firiona Vie, the Vanna White of EverQuest box art. Firiona may be flaunting a bit more skin than battle protocol requires, but it's certainly served the purpose of getting players to pick up the box and wonder whether true Elfy love lies within. Gwen's recent marriage to Keiran Thackeray unfortunately takes her off the market to those hoping that a sentient computer would digitize and throw them into a video game in the hopes of (ahem) mesmerizing her with charm. It's Elfish mage vs. human mystic, blonde bombshell vs. goth cutie in today's knockout poll! Hit the jump to cast your vote.
The Road to Mordor: Seven things to do in Ered Luin before you die
As I moved on to my second starter zone in Lord of the Rings Online on my mission to complete every quest in every area of the game, I was in for a rude, if expected, awakening. In comparison to the Shire, LotRO's Ered Luin is lacking across the board. It's hard to imagine that the game's most eastern zone, which houses not one but two racial starting areas, could turn out to be a snoozefest, but I'll let the title of this article do the talking for me. I wanted to have 10 highlights of each zone for this series and could barely get to seven. The problem here is multifold. In trying to cram both the Elves and Dwarves into a relatively small (if tall) zone, Turbine didn't allow for the space to develop either race's culture before throwing them together in the middle for an awkward social dance. The races aren't allowed to really establish their personalities, either, leaving the Elves to start shining in Rivendell and the Dwarves in Moria. Finally, many of the quests are so dull and forgettable as to prompt players to race through the area to escape to more interesting locales. It's not all a loss, of course. Some of the areas are quite scenic, and I do actually approve of the concept of setting up the conflict between Dwarves and Elves. If anything, the taste of ideas here almost begs for the area to be significantly expanded so that these concepts could be played out and the respective Elf and Dwarf habitations could be given more life. In the end, I recommend that visiting travelers, adventurers, and treasure-hunters pack a light lunch and plan to get the following seven activities done in a half-day's span.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Sylvari week wrap-up
Guild Wars 2 Sylvari week is over, much to the relief of abused F5 keys everywhere. We've finally seen the redesign, we've read the lore, we've gotten more details about the culture, we've watched new videos, and best of all, we've talked the subject to death. Now that it's all over and we've had a chance to process the infodump, it's time for my standard post-race-week Flameseeker Chronicles analysis. Follow along after the jump, where I'll recap a few of the high points of Sylvari week.
The Perfect Ten: Why Elves are the scourge of MMOs
Astute readers of Massively or my personal blog Bio Break are probably quite familiar with my blatant prejudice against all things Elf. I hate Elves and everything for which they stand. And nowhere does this hatred blossom more brightly than in the fertile fields of MMOs. As the axiom goes, where there is fantasy, there are Elves. Blame J.R.R. Tolkien for popularizing a race of what used to be cookie and Santa helpers. Almost overnight Elves became in vogue in geek culture, and efforts to root them out with flamethrowers have been in vain. Any fantasy MMO that is announced is required, by some arcane law that can only be broken with the blood of a virgin god, to include Elves as a racial choice -- or, if the developers are feeling particularly sadistic, more than one choice. Wood, night, blood, dark, light, mystical -- take your pick. There are plenty of Elves for everyone! Well, I'm not having it. Elves don't get a free pass on my watch, and I'm not afraid to stand up to the powerful Pro-Elf lobby and nail my 10 theses as to why Elves suck on the doors of this blog. Consider your pointy ears on notice, you woodland freaks -- the jig is up!
The Road to Mordor: Frozen in time
My goat snorted as it cleared the final rise, and I pulled its reins to bring it to a halt. Raising a hand to shield my eyes from the sun, I gazed at the decrepit ruins before me. A chill ran up my spine as I imagined the horrors that awaited me within the crumbling structure. For many days I had traveled the countryside looking for just this place, yet now that I'd found it, I was unsure whether I wanted to be here at all. My guides had long since fled in terror, abandoning gear and food in their haste to flee what they called "evil territory." I curled my fist and summoned all of the powers of determination that remained within me. It had to be done. I had come too far and shed too much blood to turn my back on the ruins' ancient secrets right as I was on the verge of discovery. Sure, it was the beginning of every scary play ever, but I knew completely that my destiny would be made or broken in the next few minutes. I kicked my mount into action, and we solemnly entered the deep shadows of the ruins' domain. It was do or die time. "FREEZE TAG!" I shouted. "GAME ON!"
The Road to Mordor: A look back at Volume 2
Last year, I spent a column giving my reflections, thoughts, and observations on the entirety of Volume 1 of Lord of the Rings Online's epic storyline, and today I'd like to do the same for Volume 2. Since these stories are at the center of LotRO's player experience, it's important to see how they function and hold up in today's increasingly story-centric MMO environment. I've gone through Volume 2 twice, once before the "solofication" of the recent update and once after. The second journey was, by far, much more enjoyable since I didn't have to sit there for weeks hoping to find enough players on the same part of the Fellowship portions to continue the tale. Being able to go through it at my own pace was vastly more enjoyable, especially when I could dedicate huge chunks of time to knock out several chapters in one go. And this is a good thing, as this volume of the epic story not only gives you one of your legendary traits but greatly helps you build reputation toward a faction that will give you another one (the Iron Garrison Guards). As such, Volume 2 will continue to be an important part of any character's journey. So let's dig into this puppy (not... a literal puppy, you understand) and see what Volume 2 has to offer. If you haven't yet gone through this part of the epic story, beware: Here be spoilers!
Hold the gates: Dawn of Fantasy dev diary gives an overview of stronghold defense
We haven't heard from 505 Games' Dawn of Fantasy for a while, but it looks as though the MMORTS is coming along quite nicely. In a first of hopefully several developer diaries, Lead Writer and Associate Producer Gordon Farrell shows one of the game's modes: stronghold defense. Dawn of Fantasy players will be encouraged to take control of pre-built villages, towns, and castle fortresses and defend them from the enemy as the situation warrants. In the video, Farrell shows how these strongholds can be built up and defenses laid out prior to the enemy's assault. The diary goes on to show a sample scenario of a player attempting to hold on to a multi-tiered fortress against the combined assault of Elves and Orcs. Each faction looks to have its own style and special units -- for example, the Elves wield giant Treants as siege weapons, whereas the Orcs have mobile towers and battering rams. Even though the cavalry comes to the rescue, the defending player is soon overwhelmed. However, Farrell speculates about what you might have done differently instead. You can watch the full dev diary after the jump!
The Daily Grind: How would you convince someone to jump ship to your MMO?
I've always noticed that when someone becomes completely enamored, infatuated or smitten with a great thing, he always wants to tell others about it in the hopes of sharing it. Whether it be losing weight, a great movie, a hot new artist or an awesome MMO blog, we all have our evangelistic moments as we make the case for how terrific something is to our friends. Do we do this with MMOs? Does a bear relieve himself in the woods and then shapeshift into an Elven Druid? Most definitely. MMO players are never short on expressing their opinions, especially to friends, family and whatever anonymous forum-goer may be lurking. Not only do we love our games, but we want others to love them as well. So how would you convince someone to give your favorite MMO a try over the one he's currently enjoying? What makes yours so special, and how would you transfer a bit of your passion to others? For a bonus question, have you ever successfully wooed someone to your game, and if so, how did you do it? 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!
The Road to Mordor: What if?
By the time you read this, I'll be scurrying around PAX East in Boston, feeling much like a Hobbit: unable to see over the crowd, far out of my element, and deeply wishing I purchased shoes. I'll of course be talking with the folks at Turbine to see what information I can wheedle out of them about the future of this terrific game, so if you don't hear from me again, I'm most likely languishing in a PR dungeon somewhere for being too nosy. It's a good week, therefore, to be thinking about the future. My mind never stops thinking about future possibilities for any franchise, and even if they never come to be, these speculations are a great pastime of any fan. I'm always wondering "What if?" as I play Lord of the Rings Online -- what if I could mug Frodo and become the Ring-bearer? What if those lazy bums finally finished the repairs to the tavern in Frogmorton? What if Elves could kill innocent woodland creatures and go to the dark side? Playing "What if?" with LotRO is tougher than with other games because of the limitations imposed by the IP. Despite what some say, Turbine's struggled hard to stay within the boundaries of lore and setting, and while that's helped the company to be creative in ways that it might not have otherwise, it does present some unique obstacles that aren't present in competing MMOs. So to celebrate PAX, LotRO, and the future, here's a column of "What ifs?" for your consumption!
The Road to Mordor: Rating Eriador
Lately I've been playing world traveler with my level 43 Lore-master as he's bouncing all over Middle-earth in what used to be the high-level zones of the game: Trollshaws, Angmar, Forochel, Misty Mountains, and Eregion. Once again, I'm struck by just how cohesive this place feels -- it's not a collection of Sonic the Hedgehog-themed areas (Green Zone 1, Lava Zone 4, etc.) but a world that connects together in a tangible, real way. Even though it's fiction. Until November 2008, Eriador was the only place in Middle-earth that we could explore, and although some criticized Lord of the Rings Online for not shipping with, well, every locale in J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginarium open for business, it was a smart decision. The devs could take this section of the world and focus on building depth and detail instead of spreading it thin, like butter scraped over too much bread. As a result, Eriador remains a wonderful starting point -- not to mention the bulk of any current player's journey -- and many of us have grown attached to these familiar sights and sounds as a result. Today I'd like to take a brief overview of all of Eriador's zones (we'll leave Rhovanion for another day) and rate them from best to worst in terms of zone design, questing, and that slippery cool-factor that's hard to define. Where would I suggest a summer vacation home and where would be an ideal spot for a penal colony? Hit the jump and let's run it down.
