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38 Studios assets auction dated for November 14
We first got word of an auction to sell off 38 Studios' assets for Project Copernicus earlier this month, but now we have an actual date for the auction: November 14 and 15. This sale will include the Amalur universe IP and all merchandise and sequel rights to the single-player Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, as well as IP rights to the properties of Big Huge Games. If you'd like to buy yourself an MMO, this might be the time. Head over to the auction page for more information.
Patch 5.4 PTR: The Rise of Riposte and other tank changes
Okay, before we get into it, always remember this is datamined information from the next PTR and none of it is guaranteed to make it live. That being said, there are some interesting changes in the pipeline for tanks in patch 5.4, not the least of which is the creation of Riposte, an ability for warriors and death knights. The reason Riposte is interesting is because it seems to be a means to convert parry and dodge into critical strike, which means several things. First, you'll be less likely to stack critical strike as a tank (warriors were at least thinking about it with the change to Enrage, including Shield Slam and Devastate) and secondly, it makes those purely defensive stats work as threat generators, increased the low tank DPS of the warrior tank (and perhaps the DK tank as well, although I'd not heard any complaints about low DK tank DPS) and it must be noted, is not an ability that druid, paladin or monk tanks will be getting. I find this very interesting, especially combined with the changes to Dark Command, Reckoning, Growl and Taunt. All of these abilities will now not only force a target to attack the tank in question, but will also increase her threat by 200% for 3 seconds. This means that, even if you are tanking a boss or mob that you already have threat on, these four abilities will still increase your threat overall when used, meaning that if you hit a taunt while tanking it will still have a positive effect on your threat. It's worth noting that hunter pet Growl works exactly the same - hunter pets will also get the extra 200% threat over the three seconds. We're clearly not even remotely done with tweaks and fixes in patch 5.4, but by themselves these changes suggest that tanking is definitely going to see its fair share. The change to taunts is the biggest change to how taunting works that has ever happened, and the inclusion of Riposte goes one step further towards making avoidance also provide threat.
PSA: Mass Effect 3 Reckoning DLC out today, here's what it entails
Mass Effect 3's Reckoning multiplayer DLC pack is live today, bringing six new characters, seven new weapons, two weapons mods and four fresh accessories, all for free.BioWare showed off Reckoning in a livestream yesterday and a NeoGAF user collected the details: The new characters are a Geth Juggernaut, a female biotic Turian, an Alliance Infiltration Unit, Krogan Warlord Sentinel, a human mercenary with a tech bow and a Collector Adept. Weapons include a venom shotgun, a high-powered Blood Pack Executioner Pistol and a Blood Pack Punisher SMG, and the mods are pistol and SMG power amplifiers.Reckoning is the final Mass Effect 3 multiplayer DLC pack. Citadel, the final round of singleplayer DLC, hits on March 5 ($15/1200 MSP) and will give players the "opportunity to reconnect with some of their favorite characters from all three of the Mass Effect games."
Mass Effect 3 'Reckoning' and 'Citadel' DLC on Feb. 26, Mar. 5
BioWare and EA have announced two more bundles of DLC for Mass Effect 3, with one focused on multiplayer and the other serving as "one final, sentimental journey with Commander Shepard and their squad," according to the press release.The first batch of content, "Reckoning," is a free bundle of multiplayer DLC that'll be available for free when it lands this Tuesday, February 26. The pack adds new characters, weapons and item upgrades for use in multiplayer, though what any of those things are specifically remains to be seen."Citadel," meanwhile, is Mass Effect 3's last chunk of single-player DLC, arriving on March 5 for $14.99/1200 MS Points. The pack returns Shepard and crew to (where else) the Citadel, on a mission that will give players the "opportunity to reconnect with some of their favorite characters from all three of the Mass Effect games." Well, provided you didn't get them horribly murdered, we figure. You know what you did.%Gallery-179473%%Gallery-179472%
Alleged 38 Studios spouse outlines family's financial struggles after company's closure
38 Studios stories continue to circulate through the gaming media this week, with the latest arriving courtesy of Gamasutra. The industry news site has published an anonymous letter from an alleged former employee's wife that details the challenges inherent in supporting a large family that is subject to the whims of the game industry. The letter outlines the family's financial struggles in great detail, and it serves as a cautionary tale to game industry hopefuls who are thinking of uprooting a family to follow a dream. Though the author is unnamed and could quite literally be anyone, Gamasutra says it has "verified her husband's name and former position at 38 Studios."
The Soapbox: This fantasy is far from fantastic
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. "More innovation!" is the common rallying cry of the disgruntled MMO player. Push forward the genre, build awe-inspiring giant statues instead of sixth grade art projects, do that one magic thing that nobody can agree on to make this genre as fresh and great and interesting as it was. You know, as it was when you first got into these games, that is. For all of the "more innovation!" speeches that I've seen, I never see the one that touches on the most irksome areas of stagnation in the industry, and that is how incredibly lame most MMO fantasy worlds are. Cut 'n' paste, mix and match elements between any two fantasy MMOs, and I guarantee you that nobody would really notice. The truth is that for all their desire to be seen as unique and special, most of these games feature a world carbon copied from each other with minor Mad Lib deviations. Case in point: Have you ever realized just how many of these MMO worlds share almost the same name? Start with T, usually end with A, there you go. Telara. Telon. Tyria. Atreia. Taborea. It doesn't stop there, but it really should. MMO designers need to realize that fantasy is more than just D&D and Tolkien derivations and explore the unlimited scope of what the genre could be.
Curt Schilling posts more images of Copernicus
Despite the state of Rhode Island's best efforts, Curt Schilling is not done with Project Copernicus. Sure, 38 Studios may be gone, but the legacy lives on, this time through a handful of brand-new screenshots posted on Curt Schilling's own Facebook page this morning. These six shots show the ready-for-primetime artwork that is a big part of why we're even more disappointed in the way things played out. As Schilling describes this set, these are "images from the most magical, breathtaking and awe inspiring world ever created [...] images [he] was 'allowed' to peek at along the way, when the team wanted [them] all to see the magical world [they] were building."
38 Studios lays off entire staff, sells Big Huge Games [Updated]
The 38 Studios disaster continues to unfold today, as the troubled studio laid off its entire staff and may be selling off its Big Huge Games division in Boston. Boston's Fox 25 News speculates that the studio may close by this weekend. 38 Studios CM Charles Dane confirmed being laid off on Twitter: "Now on the market. I had an awesome run with 38 Studios, but this dream is now ending." Word is that the company is also selling its subsidiary, Big Huge Games. Big Huge Games is the maker of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, 38 Studios' single-player prequel to its Copernicus MMO. This would not be the first time that Big Huge Games was sold by its parent company, as the studio experienced the same event back in 2009. Oh his Facebook page, Curt Schilling stressed that Reckoning did quite well in sales. "I wanted to clear up some misinformation around 38 Studios' first product, Reckoning. Sales of Reckoning outperformed EA's expectations and sold more than 1.2 million units in the game's first 90 days in the market." [Update]: Developer Ryan Shwayder has also confirmed the layoffs via his personal blog.
Creating a new world: 38 Studios discusses the formation of Amalur's IP
As MMO fans, we're keeping a close eye on 38 Studios for its development of Project Copernicus, the MMO that will serve as the follow-up to next month's Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The risk factor of not only developing two major intertwined projects in parallel but to have the additional task of creating a brand-new IP in which to put them must be a pressing one, which is why CVG sat down with Reckoning Lead Designer Ian Frazier to talk about challenges the studio has been tackling. Frazier outlines the balance the studio's struck between its three big-name creators -- Todd McFarlane (art), R.A. Salvatore (story), and Ken Rolston (design) -- not to mention the ideas that pour in from founder Curt Schilling. Fortunately, Frazier says that these larger-than-life personalities mesh well together: "The nice thing that's worked out is, I think if we'd got three famous game designers, it would have been a disaster: big egos, they're all on the same plane, it wouldn't have worked out. What makes this work is they're all different." Even though Rolston previously worked on The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Frazier said the designer wanted to try his hand at something fresh with a better combat system. "They're all great games," Frazier said of the Elder Scrolls series, "and I think they're progressively better, but they're all the same game. It's not like they're radically changing with time." Frazier said Reckoning has been compared to a "single-player WoW" as well as Dragon Age and Fable, but he insists that the world and ideas the team's been creating will take it far past those basic comparisons. You can take your first peek into the world of Amalur with the Reckoning demo -- and let us know what you think in the comments!
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning trailer ventures into art design
The latest trailer for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning adds color commentary to the artistic choices its design team made during development, delving into the thought process of world creation and character design. To see some of that work in action, check out the Reckoning demo, which is available now.
The world (wide web) of Amalur grows as 38 Studios works on its MMO
With Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning just around the corner and Project Copernicus waiting in the wings, 38 Studios is fattening its golden website for the upcoming feast. The studio has expanded the site devoted to the world that both of these games inhabit, and those looking for hints and portents of the studio's upcoming MMO would do well to seek lore within its pages. Describing the website expansion as a "treasure trove" of new info, 38 Studios has added new landing pages, navigation features, and information about one of the game's races: the Gnomes. The Gnomes are described as "an enigmatic people. They bestow wondrous gifts of knowledge, medicine, and magic to befriend the other kingdoms, yet seldom reveal their plans or intentions to outsiders." It's interesting to note that the Gnomes are divided up into three casts, which does tempt the mind into thinking the word "classes." Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is the single-player RPG that's meant to fill the role of a prologue -- in both real-world and in-game time -- to the much larger Copernicus MMO. [Thanks to Sketchit for the tip!]
Searching for Reckoning in the Kingdoms of Amalur
EA and 38 Studios have been showing Reckoning (Kingdoms of Amalur) for more than nine months now, and I still don't think they've figured out how to explain what it is. We've heard comparisons to God of War and character action games because of its combat system. We've heard comparisons to the Fable series by virtue of its character customization and imagery, and I've even heard Skyrim and Oblivion comparisons thrown in there for good measure because of the size of the world, and because of Ken Rolston's involvement. But Reckoning (Kingdoms of Amalur – hey, EA, 38, can we talk about that naming convention some time?) isn't any of those things at all. There are comparisons to be made, though, namely to Secret of Mana and Diablo II.%Gallery-141585%
38 Studios opens a website portal to Project Copernicus' world
While 38 Studios' top-secret Project Copernicus MMO lacks a proper title or most of its details, at least we can now visit the world that it and its single-player RPG brother, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, inhabits. The studio launched a pair of websites devoted to the game world and its first game today. Over on Amalur, 38 Studios has unleashed its loremasters to share with you the stories, features, histories, and settings of this fantasy landscape. And while Reckoning is just a prequel to the eventual MMO, its website contains quite a few lore snippets as well as a world map to pour over while you're planning your future conquests. As part of the twin projects, R.A. Salvatore has created over 10,000 years of fictional history for the world of Amalur, stretching from The Deep Gloam to the Age of Heroes. Reckoning takes place during the Age of Arcana, with Copernicus happening some time thereafter.
The Guild Counsel: An interview with The Syndicate's Sean Stalzer on his new book
As you pack your bags for that trip to the beach (or that annual fan gathering) and you toss in that bottle of sunblock (or aspirin), you might want to make some space in your bags for some summer reading as well. Fortunately, there is a growing number of titles, such as Adam Trzonkowski's Guild Leader's Companion, that examine the methods and lessons of running guilds and online communities. To that list we can add Sean "Dragons" Stalzer's sequel, The Syndicate: Beyond the Legend, which is now available at Lulu and soon to be sold at Amazon. In the book, guild leader Sean Stalzer picks up from where his first book left off and gives us even more insight into the MMO industry and his guild leadership philosophy. The book is divided into three parts. The first covers The Syndicate's recent history and continued relationship with several MMO studios as well its job writing guides for Prima Games. In the second part, Sean explains his time-tested philosophy for running a guild, dubbed S.U.C.C.E.S.S. And the last section of the book looks at where MMOs are headed and what's needed down the road. Sean took the time to talk to Massively about his new book, and there was so much to discuss that this interview is split into two parts. In this week's Guild Counsel, Sean talks about the lessons he's learned from his work with MMO studios. He looks back at how it's influenced his leadership approach, and he gives a glimpse of why he's excited about his current work with 38 Studios. Read on for the interview!
Preview the world of Copernicus with 38 Studio's Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning trailer
38 Studios has been in the news quite a bit over the last year despite not having a released game under its belt. While the upstart company still lacks a finished product, it's one step closer with today's release of the first gameplay trailer for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The footage from the upcoming single-player RPG gives fans a first look at the world of Amalur, which 38 Studios will revisit in the Copernicus MMO to follow. In addition to featuring company president (and former World Series MVP) Curt Schilling, Reckoning boasts an impressive array of talent from both 38 Studios and Big Huge Games including lore-master R.A. Salvatore, former Morrowind and Oblivion lead designer Ken Rolston, and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane. The video clip showcases a good look at Amalur's fantasy trappings, glimpses of combat with several creatures (including a big bad), and a 2012 release date. Check out all the details after the cut.
38 Studios Rhode Island deal still up in the air
Just when we thought 38 Studios' epic quest to move its guild headquarters to Rhode Island was nearing its conclusion, a posting on the blog of a local television news outlet casts a bit of doubt on the successful outcome of the proceedings. Reporter Ted Nesi writes that the state's Economic Development Commission is itching to close the $75 million loan it's taken out for 38 Studios. However, if Lincoln Chafee wins the governorship in today's election, it could trigger a showdown, given the candidate's outspoken criticism of the deal. The other leading candidate, Frank Caprio, has said that if elected, he will "march down to EDC headquarters on Wednesday to do something unspecified about 38 Studios." In other 38 Studios news, Amazon has recently published the official box art of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, the first official game to come out of Curt Schilling's company (currently slated for a September 2011 release). Check out the details, as well as a new screenshot, at 38gamers.
The Light and How to Swing It: Protection and retribution builds in 4.0.1
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Please send screenshots as well as any comments to my email at gregg@wow.com. Hi. I've got a quick thing to report on before we get to the meat of the article. If you were tanking those first couple days of patch 4.0.1 and you seemed to be taking extra damage, almost as if you weren't crit-immune, there is a reason for that. There was a bug that made us vulnerable to crits in 4.0.1. It should be fixed now, but I received a couple emails about it from people who were extremely concerned about their survivability. Try things again and see if you're still having issues. We really need to talk about talent builds. I know we're a week after the patch at this point, but due to how much we've changed throughout the course of the beta, I've developed an innate fear of committing to talent builds. Part of this comes from having had talents moved between trees each build. Other parts of this come from seeing talents keep the same name yet be completely changed as far as what they do. I really wanted the patch to drop before doing this, because I didn't trust Blizzard to keep things the same from the PTR/beta build to the live build. However, that is in the past. Let's look toward the future.
38 Studios set to expand the world of Amalur into merchandising and a newsletter
Kingdoms of Amalur is a familiar name to gamers who are looking forward to Project Copernicus, the mysteriously code-named MMO under development by 38 Studios. If you're finding it hard to wait for more news on this project, 38 Studios has just the thing to distract you. The world of Amalur, created by R.A. Salvatore and Todd McFarlane, is going to begin showing up in the real world soon in the form of comics, toys, novels, and even a few more games. Not a surprise there, amirite? Speaking of other games set in Amalur, you'll see more from Reckoning soon. The single-player game is set to launch fall of 2011, and the game's online newsletter will launch in October. Will all of this activity surrounding Amalur include new information on Copernicus? It seems likely and it's fun to speculate, so here's hoping! [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
The Light and How to Swing It: Prot talents in Cataclysm
With the Light as his strength, Gregg Reece of The Light and How to Swing It faces down the demons of the Burning Legion, the undead of the Scourge, and soon, an entire flight of black dragons. Please send screenshots as well as any comments to gregg@wow.com. If you saw my column last week, you'll notice that I've been less than thrilled with the way the protection tree had been progressing in the beta. Sure, things have been getting better, but it has felt as if the whole tree is fairly unsettled. With the latest build, we're finally starting to see things get a little smoother and the mechanics to make a little bit more sense. Keeping Holy Shield up is easier than in previous builds, and a lot of depth to the types of strategies we can have while tanking has greatly improved. Also, our mastery bonus has been official revealed. I'm going to use the same type of disclaimer that I did on the ret talents article. These may not be the talents we'll end up seeing when the expansion hits, but they're getting there. Some talents will look pretty close to how they exist currently, while others have absolutely nothing to do with their current versions. Let's go take a look.
GenCon 2010: Fantasy fencing with 38 Studios
One thing is for certain: When you are sitting in the crosshairs of Curt Schilling and R.A. Salvatore during an interview, it's easy to become bowled over by their collective intensity and passion, especially when it comes to their interest in games and fantasy worlds. While GenCon Indy lacked its usual MMORPG presence this year, Massively was able to grab a few minutes of face time with 38 Studios' founder and lead writer as they passed through the convention. It was a bit of an odd interview, however, as two of the biggest topics -- 38 Studios' move to Rhode Island and any solid details about their top-secret MMO -- were off the table for discussion. Do not fret, as that certainly didn't stop us from trying to pry for a few hints along the way. Schilling and Salvatore were obviously eager to spill the beans about Copernicus, but they are still biding their time until the right moment. Happily, the duo didn't mind us fencing with them for facts, and were quite open about their single-player RPG lead-up to Copernicus, their general philosophy of designing the MMO, and why they've waited so long to unveil it to the public. Read on, gentle gamers, for a few ripostes, parries and lunges with two of the biggest figures in the industry right now.
