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EVE Vegas 2014 roundup: Tech 3 destroyers, permadeath and more
An event that started out several years ago as an impromptu EVE Online player gathering, EVE Vegas has grown so large that this year it was was officially taken over by developer CCP Games. This year's event was organised like a mini-Fanfest, with Executive Producer Andie Nordgren's keynote address and some interesting talks from both players and developers. Players got a chance to compare notes with developers on the game's recent progress, CCP let out a few exciting reveals, and the whole event was streamed live to viewers at home for free. This year's big reveal was a new tech 3 Tactical Destroyer ship class that can transform into one of several tactical configurations mid-fight to boost power to the engines, shields, or weapons as required. We also heard rumblings of new "glass cannon" weapons that deal increased damage but lower your ship's damage resistances, and CCP tested the public response to the controversial idea of adding permadeath characters to EVE. Player talks were equally informative, giving insights into the world of nullsec Fleet Command and the custom Region Commander software that the game's biggest coalitions use to maintain their grip on power. If you missed out on the event, read on for links to Massively's coverage of the stream or to watch the stream recordings for yourself.
The Summoner's Guidebook: Why you shouldn't always buy Deathcap on LoL casters
Once upon a time (OK, a few weeks ago), I was playing an ARAM as Diana. I had a fairly bad score (I'm passive and don't chase kills), and we lost. One of my teammates blamed me, claiming my item build was awful. It was largely because I didn't build Rabadon's Deathcap. Deathcap is one of the perennial caster items in League of Legends. Not only does it give an enormous amount of ability power, but it also increases all of your ability power (including what it grants) by a whopping 30%. This seems so ridiculously powerful! Even though it's expensive, 30% increase in AP is such a huge boost to damage that it can't be beaten. Is this really the case, though? In Summoner's Rift, I completely agree that Deathcap is a great item. In Twisted Treeline, Wooglet's Witchcap (the replacement item for Deathcap) is also incredible. However, in Dominion and ARAM, the fast-paced action and frequent conflicts change the nature of the wizard hats considerably.
Behind the Mask: Fixing the glass cannons
There's a sharp divide between the Champions Online that I play and the Champions Online played by the majority of the readers here at Massively. I play the heavily customized, freeform game -- and even among freeform players, I am aggressive in my builds. I avoid T0 blasts like the plague (although Two-Gun Mojo is pretty good), and I pick my powers with the sole intention of avoiding waste. Most of you guys play F2P now, and there's nothing wrong with that at all. All of the Archetypes are viable, especially in team situations. In general, they can't quite compete with a polished freeform character, but they're not dead spots in a lair, and they work surprisingly well when teamed up with freeform supermen (and women). Solo, it's a slightly different story. Of the current 10 Archetypes, most solo wonderfully, easily meeting the challenges present in the Normal difficulty game. That leaves three... and all share one similarity: They use the Avenger role. The Silver Avengers (not to be confused with the in-game organization of the same name) are very capable Archetypes. I've mentioned in the past that Inferno is one of the strongest, and to wit, all three Avengers absolutely roll through most content, especially on teams. Outside of teams, the three Avengers are so squishy that they suffer a bit when taking on the big baddies -- Master Villains and Super Villains. This week, I sought to find out the answer: Can Silver Avengers solo?
The Perfect Ten: Weird staples of every fantasy MMO
If you take some weird, outlandish, or out-of-the-ordinary item and then saturate your life with it, sooner or later the bizarre becomes the accepted norm. So much so, in fact, that you'd cease to even think about it. I mean, do we ever question those magic boxes known as "microwaves" that mysteriously heat up our foods? Does anyone blink twice anymore when small computers tell us how to drive instead of nagging spouses? What about Carrot Top? Likewise, fantasy MMORPGs have erected trope after trope that we no longer question -- or even notice. Actually, the only time we'd notice one of these is if a game failed to include it. No matter how illogical and sometimes silly these MMO staples are when you think about them, we've been around them so long that we would no more notice them as we would the individual keyboard buttons that we type on daily. Still... you're thinking about them right now, aren't you? Those keys, cruelly dominated by your pecking fingers, pushing them back into place. What a techno-bully you are! In any case, come with us as we count down 10 weird staples that every fantasy MMO seems to include.
