Werewolves
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US Connected Realms update for July 15th
Another update to the Realm Connection list has been made, with realms scheduled to be connected on the 17th and 24th of July. As is always the case, these connections will take place on Thursdays, and are scheduled to occur between 5:00 AM PDT and 1:00 PM PDT. This month's scheduled realm connections are: Thursday, July 17th Dawnbringer and Madoran Zuluhed and Andorhal, Scilla, and Ursin Thursday, July 24th Deathwing and Executus, Kalecgos, and Shattered Halls Gilneas and Elune Also on the list but not scheduled yet are Malfurion and Trollbane, and The Venture Co and Maelstrom. As a player, I hope these go without a hitch as my main is on Elune.
Tamriel Infinium: An Elder Scrolls Online community connection
The primary reason I play the MMOs I play stems from the people I play with and the community as a whole. The Elder Scrolls, being a well-established intellectual property, already has a well-established community. MMO players, like many of you who read Massively, have their own culture and community as well. With the Elder Scrolls Online, we see a melding of these two communities, but not necessarily in the same places. Some sites tend to be MMO-focused, as I try to be in this column; others focus on the Elder Scrolls. I've mentioned Tamriel Foundry from time to time. This site started in August last year as a theory-crafting and mechanics site for ESO. But it's blossomed into a large community that focuses on many parts of the ESO landscape, from lore and classes to guilds and armoring. Although founder Andrew "Atropos" Clayton and his team have been writing articles for well over a year now, the recent articles have touched on some solid mechanics and gameplay issues. But given the growth and nature of the community there, the team has branched out to cover more than just the mechanics of the game and has covered a bit of lore as well. Let me highlight a few of my favorite bits, and then we will tackle a statement from a Massively community member.
The Elder Scrolls Online blog explores the werewolves of Tamriel
It's no secret that as you adventure through the world of Elder Scrolls Online, there is a chance you will be set upon by vicious werewolves. It's also possible that you may become a werewolf yourself, cursed to roam the woods at night killing unwary hunters, howling at the moon, and surfing on vans. Today's ESO blog dives more deeply into lycnathropy in the game, discussing the design of player werewolves and the challenges it presented. The blog talks in-depth about inspirations for transformation and attack animations as well as tiny graphical touches like blood on your muzzle after a kill. It also touches on the player werewolf's sound design; the team took human, wolf, dog, and other animal noises to create sounds meant to strike fear into the hearts of other adventurers. The full post is worth a read if you're planning to spend the bulk of your time in ESO on four legs.
Chaos Theory: The Secret World's Transylvania transition
A couple of weeks ago, I finished my first "playthrough" of The Secret World, having wrapped up the last quest and main storyline in Transylvania. Oh, sure, Funcom's going to push the finish line further away in the coming issues, but until that happens, this is the end of the road for the solo experience. I was so darn eager to get into Transylvania after Egypt. For me, Egypt is the weakest part of the solo game, with dull desert zones, statues you're supposed to empathize with, and a truncated main story that didn't really pay off in the end. It wasn't all bad, of course; Last Train to Cairo is six kinds of awesome, and Said and Nassir are two of the most memorable characters this game has produced. But Transylvania seemed like this juicy fruit that hovered just out of reach the entire time I was in Egypt -- and I couldn't wait to be there. I wasn't let down when I finally arrived, either. Transylvania's "old Europe" charm felt like a refreshingly distinct experience than what I'd encountered before, and I thoroughly enjoyed my journey through its three zones. Before my new Dragon alt dims my memories of my time among the bats and wolves of Romania, I wanted to jot down what I felt made this a special place to visit.
DDO expansion screens show off dryads, werewolves
Want the latest Dungeons and Dragons Online expansion screenshots? We've got them for you in our gallery below, and they focus on dryads and werewolf monsters from the forthcoming Menace of the Underdark patch. The shots are set in the Eveningstar region of the Forgotten Realms, which players will initially encounter after porting over from DDO's original Eberron locale. Menace of the Underdark will add quite a bit of new content to DDO, including a new Druid class, epic destinies, and an old familiar campaign setting. The expansion is now available for pre-order on Turbine's website. It launches on June 25th. [Source: Turbine press release] %Gallery-148679%
Dark Legends' teaser trailer is to die for
We've gotten our first glimpse at the world of Spacetime Studios' Dark Legends, and it certainly sets a different tone than the mobiile MMO developer's past efforts. In this teaser trailer, a haunting rendition of House of the Rising Sun plays as blood flows back up and into the mouth of a delighted vampire. Slated for release in the first quarter of this year on iOS, Android, and Chrome, Dark Legends is all about the supernatural underbelly of society. Players will choose a society of vampires to join and go forth to battle nasties like werewolves and zombies. You can watch the trailer after the jump!
Unveiled: The Supernatural trailer shows off gameplay, customization [Updated]
Unveiled: The Supernatural recently made its way onto our radar screen, and a new trailer from last week's G-Star convention offers the first real look under the game's hood. While we've seen plenty of screenshots, renders, and a cinematic, the new clip indulges in a few fly-through shots as well as some glimpses of avatar and outfit customization. Toward the end of the video we also get to see both solo- and group-based PvE, as well as the requisite neck biting and heart-stabbing that are part and parcel of every vampire title. Check out the full clip after the cut. [Update: Maverick Studios reached out to us to let us know that this isn't an official trailer: "It is not a publicly released gameplay trailer from G-star; it is a prototype video made more than a year ago by eight developers who were constructing their vision of Unveiled: The Supernatural."]
Maverick details Unveiled: The Supernatural's progression system
A few days ago we told you about Unveiled: The Supernatural, a new horror MMORPG from South Korea's Maverick Studios. Today we've got a bit more info for you, as the development team has released an official press blurb along with a gaggle of screenshots. The press release touches on everything from the game's setting (the modern day real world, including New York City and the Hatra ruins in Iraq) to the races and progression mechanics. Unveiled features hunters, vampires, witches, and werewolves as its playable races, and a classless progression system that involves spending mastery points as you level. Each character can have ten separate mastery trees (weapons, psychic, paranormal, magic, and many more). Inside each tree, you can learn up to ten powers, and you may also stumble across rare items called essences that allow your character to acquire a native power trait of another race. Finally, Maverick says that the game will be PvP-focused, and the press blurb mentions race vs. race, guild vs. guild, and team vs. team variants. We'll bring you more on the game as it becomes available. In the meantime, have a look through the concept art and screenshot gallery below. [Source: Maverick press release] %Gallery-138921%
Maverick Studios working on Unveiled: The Supernatural horror MMO
Apparently CCP and Funcom aren't the only development firms working on horror MMOs with sexy graphics. Upstart Maverick Studios has been slaving away on Unveiled: The Supernatural since 2009, and the game features four races (hunters, witches, vampires, and werewolves) in addition to some sort of skill-based advancement system. MMO Culture recently posted a few screenshots as well as some Unveiled concept art, and there's even a trailer floating around the intertubes that offers a glimpse into the game's brooding aesthetic (but sadly no gameplay footage). Can Unveiled satisfy our blood-lust for a horror MMO now that World of Darkness seems further away than ever? It's too early to tell, but you can bet that we'll be keeping an interested eye on Maverick Studios. Head past the break to check out the trailer.
Moonlight Online launching by the end of 2011
All right, fang gang, prepare to get your vamp on -- Moonlight Online is coming to a PC or coffin near you by the end of 2011. Moving to capitalize on the final Twilight films, IGG announced that Moonlight Online will be launching its own version of vampires and werewolves before too long. Moonlight Online isn't just about well-worn horror concepts, but fresh ideas as well, such as strategic empire building, epic love stories, combat on the move, and fantastic creatures. According to the forums, there will also be dynamic weather patterns that will shape the game world, throwing zones from a blizzard to an idyllic summer day as the seasons progress. If you haven't already, make sure to sink your teeth into our dev diary, which gives a good overview of the game. We also have our very first look at in-game screenshots of Moonlight Online, which you can view in the gallery below! %Gallery-107318%
The Queue: Irrelevant intros are new and exciting
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Did you know a possible explanation for the origin of the "succubus" as a serious mythological creature is that men suffering from sleep paralysis turned to the supernatural to explain why they were locked in a semi-lucid dreamstate wherein they were wracked with visions of dark, unexplainable things whilst utterly unable to move, speak, or wake up? Did you know that sleep paralysis might also be the origin of alleged alien abductions that people in the modern era claim to experience? Additionally, many children who are truly, legitimately terrified of going to sleep because of seeing ghosts, spirits, or men all in black (very specific!) may be afflicted with an adolescent form of sleep paralysis. They're not just lying so they can sleep in their parents' beds. Though they are children, so you may never know for sure. We, as a race, may have been advancing both culturally and technologically for thousands of years, but many of the same psychological problems have remained throughout our entire history. The only difference between sleep paralysis now and sleep paralysis then is that the zeitgeist of humanity has turned from the fantasy of mythology to the fantasy of science fiction as their supernatural explanation for natural phenomenon they don't understand. What does this have to do with WoW? Well, beyond the succubus part, not a whole lot. I'm also not a doctor or any sort of expert or specialist in the field, so please don't diagnose yourself with sleep paralysis because of my descriptions of it. You may, in fact, have been abducted by aliens last night. Now let's pretend this conversation never happened and dig into the Q&A. Aezir asked: Dose time go by in dog years for Worgen or dose it go by normally?
IGG planning great things for combat in Moonlight Online
Moonlight Online is expected to launch at the end of the year, and we're slowly getting more information on the game. The latest information from IGG gives a few hints about what we can expect from combat. While it's light on specifics, we do know that Moonlight Online "utilizes DOTA-like tactical elements in combat, so gamers can have their characters cast spells and use abilities in while in motion (limited by a cooldown time)." Transformation will be a big part of Moonlight Online, with characters gaining some impressive stat boosts in their alternate forms. Werewolves will receive buffs to attack power and HP, and vampires in bat form will be faster, more agile, and have a spell power boost. You can find more details about IGG's take on the vampire vs. werewolf conflict on the Moonlight Online forums.
All the World's a Stage: Roleplaying the wolf
Friday night was a special evening for me, as I finally got around to watching New Moon. I admit that the movie really wasn't my cup of tea, and I mostly watched it out of a sort of morbid curiousity. I felt a clear, unnatural compulsion to see what Dakota Fanning's performance was like, and I will report that she was definitely a shining point for the movie. The Volturi portions of the movie were fairly cool, but the rest of the movie really didn't work out for me. I don't know, just not my thing. Ironically, one of the biggest issues I had with New Moon was the performance of the werewolves. I'm sure there's a few dozen people who will tell me that they're not technically werewolves or whatever. But as a relatively uninitiated viewer, Jacob and his pack were indistinguishable from your general furry, toothy werewolf. But they just didn't act that way. Nothing about the pack really struck me as wolfish, and the lack of that canine behavior totally kept me from buying these guys as lupines. So, of course, I couldn't help but think about our own upcoming Worgen in Azeroth. There's already a few different avenues built into the lore for roleplaying "beasts." The longest standing option, of course, is roleplaying a druid who spends a lot of time as a cat or bear. But, even aside from that, you can assume some hunters probably spend more time with their pet wolf than other humanoids. And you always have the odd baby lost in the woods who ends up raised by the local pack. (It's amazing how many character one comes across who's raised by wolves.) So, ultimately, if we're going to roleplay canine-like characters, here's some tips on how to make it a little convincing. I think we can do better than Twilight. I'm not claiming to be a wolf expert here, I'm just talking about the literary and connotative ideas of playing a wolf-inspired character.
IGG introduces vampire MMO Moonlight Online
Have you been dying to recreate your favorite scenes from the Twilight series? Well me neither, but I would like to fly around kicking butt and avoiding the sunlight. This is good, being that IGG announced Moonlight: Online today. Players will soon be able to control Vampire characters as they jump, fly and climb through supernatural environments that will be rendered using a cutting edge game engine. Players have also been promised that the game will feature plenty of outlets for their creativity. Could this mean the game will feature a lot of customization for characters? The game will also feature the ability to create and destroy entire empires with superpower abilities, all while declaring war on the Werewolves! Sounds to us like a pretty nice combination of pale, powerful and destructive -- just like we like it. Details are promised over the next weeks and months, so keep en eye out here. The game is slated for release at the end of 2010.
We now understand why everyone loves Cream Wolf
Cream Wolf, the most recent release on the prestigious Adult Swim line of browser-based games, might just be the first surprise smash hit of 2010 so far. It's been sweeping through the gaming press, swooning everyone who comes in contact with it. After spending a half hour with the game, we completely understand why -- and we wager you will too. Seriously, go play it. We're not going to spoil the game by going into too much detail about it, though we will say that you're a werewolf who sells ice cream to kids. That's a good enough jumping off point for your imagination, we think.
All the World's a Stage: You can't be a vampire
It's not my goal to discuss whether or not there are actually vampires in WoW. The Crimson Halls certainly seems to support the idea that the Cullen-crowd can get their bite on in Azeroth, maybe even cuddled up against the vampire LARPers. But even with the Sanlayn rocking the vampire thing in Northrend, there still aren't any playable vampires in WoW. (Blood death knights are arguably similar, but they still don't sprout fangs and lay the nom down on unsuspecting victims.) Yet, people still yearn to play vampires. It happens. And I don't actually mind people playing these type of characters in the free-form style roleplay you see in Goldshire and Silvermoon, because that tends to be the sort of place where anything goes. And I'll admit. In a former life I've LARPed a vampire. But in troupe-style roleplay, there are usually particular character conventions. A roleplay guild focused on defending Ashenvale from the encroaching Horde, for example, would have some trouble accepting a Draenei Shaman who is actually roleplaying an apologetic ex-Eredar making amends for his crimes. It falls on the leaders of these troupes and guilds, therefore, to talk to the person playing an outside-the-box character. You don't want to just leave your junior vampire going down a bad track, leaving him without folks with whom to roleplay. Even worse, it can lead to backbiting, disruption in the troupe, and other negative things. Roleplay groups are fragile enough -- don't leave a wingman hanging, when you can help them with the trouble. Take a look behind the jump, and let's see how you can help bring an Edward Cullen back into Azeroth, while still making everyone as happy as possible.
Battlefield Heroes going all Twilighty for month-long monster mash
Things are going to look pretty different in the world of Battlefield Heroes during the month of February. Soldiers from both factions will soon find themselves embroiled in the "Vampires vs. Werewolves" event, which allows players to purchase costumes based on the two monstrous archetypes. Unfortunately, there's no room for crossovers -- Nationalists are strictly Team Edward, and Loyalists are strictly Team Jacob, and oh man we can't believe we just said that. In addition to the costumes, both factions will unlock "claw swipe" attacks, and three of the game's maps will be given a new nighttime aesthetic. Check out this battle for Bella's affection cryptozoological dominance in the trailer above.
Revealed: Champions Online's first update, Blood Moon
Champions Online's Blood Moon update has finally been revealed, and wow does it sound pretty cool. Beginning in October, the update will add the Celestial powerset, which sounds like a versatile arrangement of powers allowing you to heal allies or harm enemies.The actual in-game event itself looks to be exciting, as it involves fighting off a dark sorcerer known as Takofanes. We're decidedly excited about the 'Zombie Apocalypse' rising in Canada. Zombies in PVP? Yes please. And when a player falls in combat, they'll return as one of the undead, bound to fight in Takofanes' name. There will also be werewolves to fight, although what their dark bite does to a player isn't as clear just yet.We really love is how the lore is being tied into the event. Millennium City was built on the smoldering crater where Detroit once stood. For the Blood Moon event, players will have the chance to fight against heroes who fought in the Battle of Detroit and free their souls from Takofanes' evil necromancy. It all ends in a big throw down with Takofanes himself. We'll hear more about the details in the coming weeks. Maybe we'll even get some additional info from Cryptic at PAX this weekend!
Night Elves and Worgen: Druid allies of the Moon
For some, the Worgen seem unlikely members of the Alliance. These lupine creatures have a long history within Azeroth, even if no one is quite sure where or - to quote Chris Metzen, "when" - they come from. The choice to include the isolationist zone of Gilneas is logical. After all Arugal's infamous Shadowfang Keep is located just north of the Greymane Wall, right up the road. Added to this the fact a Gilnean hasn't been seen in a decade, well that makes them ripe for a lorefest. Blizzard have all but confirmed it was their isolationist attitude which led to the people of Gilneas becoming Worgen but if that is the case then it's kind of ironic. They hid to escape the undead plague and instead succumbed to another infection entirely.Formally humans and now Worgen, the trailer hints that it will be the efforts of the Night Elves which will see the Worgen joining the Alliance. Now this in interesting because the Night Elves have their own history with the Worgen, Velinde Starsong and the Scythe of Elune. But given that the Gilnean Worgen are the only other Alliance race who can become Druids, there's an even deeper link between the two races. Also, given that Druids are skilled shapeshifters, the Night Elves could hold the key to helping the people of Gilneas deal with their curse.Now the werewolves on which the Worgen are based are lunar creatures. In the most popular mythology they are forced to transform when the moon is full but this is not always the case. Part of this can be seen in the Wolfcult of Northrend's Grizzly Hills who remain in human form until forced into combat. For the Night Elves, who revere the larger silvery orb known as the White Lady as their supreme Goddess, Elune, the Worgen are a part of their mytholgy. While in the past, the Scythe of Elune storyline has been a big part of Worgen lore, how much of it and the pull of the Moon - which is found in traditional werewolf lore - will make it into Cataclysm remains to be seen.This is part of the excitement of a new expansion, the promise of the unknown is just that, so promising! For a short time, our imaginations can wander without the constraints of fact and detail. We can dream of what we want the Worgen and, specifically, the Druid class to be within the lore of Azeroth. Regardless of what this might be in the end, there is definitely going to be a close bond between the Kaldorei and the people of Gilneas which will shape how World of Warcraft moves into a post-Cataclysm age.
Know Your Lore: World of Warcraft Cataclysm Worgen
Welcome to Know your Lore, where we bring the story behind the people, places, and cultures of Azeroth. The Worgen are coming. We now know for sure that, come Deathwing's Cataclysm, The Worgen of Gilneas will be answering the call of the Alliance. The Worgen, while they have quickly become a classic, iconic race in Warcraft lore, actually only came onto the scene in WoW itself, providing an enemy to Horde and Alliance alike in Silverpine Forest, Duskwood, and Ashenvale. But who are they, and what bought them to this place where they will become one of the next playable races of the World of Warcraft before other choices? In the BeginningTo know how this all begins, the first place to look is The Book of Ur. This Book, written by Ur, a Mage of Dalaran, eventually found its way into the personal library of the Archmage Arugal. It describes the origin of the Worgen.
