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The 'Game of Thrones' credits are more fun in 360-degrees
There are still ten days to go until Game of Thrones season six debuts, but HBO is doing its best to keep fans' appetites for new footage satiated until then. After dropping a dingy new trailer on Monday, and some behind-the-scenes footage yesterday, it's now released a 360-degree video of the show's opening credits on Facebook.
Game of Thrones Ascent launches alliance vs. alliance
Last August, Disruptor Beam announced plans to enhance endgame in Game of Thrones Ascent by adding alliance vs alliance combat. Players looking forward to the large scale battles and diplomatic dealings of AvA can now jump in and have at altering the balance of power in Westeros as the system is now live. The post explaining the new system is quite lengthy, but here's the idea in a nutshell: Alliances will earn victory points by establishing and fortifying camps as well as attacking or assisting other alliances, and to the victors (the ones with the most points) go the spoils (special rewards). After a period of time, a new phase will begin and all points and camps will reset. The system, which is meant to evolve, will offer different rewards, different goals, and potentially different ways to earn victory in different phases. For an in-depth look at AvA, check out the devs' detailed guide. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
Game of Thrones: Ascent to introduce item enhancements and alliance PvP
Big changes are headed to browser-based social MMO Game of Thrones: Ascent. In a lengthy and detailed developer blog, studio Disruptor Beam outlined the challenges it sees with keeping players engaged in GoTA at the endgame point and how it plans to address those challenges. The main problem, it appears, is that there currently isn't enough to do after finishing volumes one and two of the story. Disruptor Beam determined that the lack of options upon the completion of the story leaves players with no reason to play, noting, "There needs to be something more to our endgame." The studio has a two-part plan to keep players engaged. The first is item enhancement, which allows players to modify items to adjust their attributes and unlock new abilities. Improved items can be made permanent so they persist through reincarnation. The second part is alliance vs. alliance combat and diplomacy, which enables players to create alliances of up to 500 members and declare war (or form peaceful bonds). Alliances will be able to own camps and use those camps as launch points for attacks against other alliances. According to Disruptor Beam, both of these features are still in the deep testing phase. The studio hopes to have them rolled out in the next few months. In the meantime, it appears as though Game of Thrones: Ascent is growing more and more into a fully featured MMO every day. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip]
Game of Thrones Seven Kingdoms releases its first trailer
We know a little bit about the game, but up until now, nothing has actually been seen of the upcoming Game of Thrones Seven Kingdoms. But the wait is now over, as a trailer for the browser-based game has been unveiled to show off some of what players can expect when the game finally goes live. And if you're hoping for the opportunity to cross swords with rival houses in a massive political battle... well, that does seem to be on the plate. There's admittedly not too much that can be displayed via a trailer running under a minute long. But the trailer does show off the graphics and some hints of the combat, which looks to be very much a matter of skill. Check out the full trailer just past the break, and keep your eyes open for more information as the game ramps up for more reveals at San Diego Comic-Con. [Update: George R.R. Martin himself has also posted the video and the original press release. He notes that he'll be at SDCC checking out the game at the Dark Horse booth.]
Bigpoint working on Game of Thrones MMO
Winter is coming, and according to USA Today, so is a rogue's gallery of games based on George R.R. Martin's trendy Song of Ice and Fire IP. In addition to the recently released A Game of Thrones: Genesis strategy title, the lands of Westeros will be featured in an upcoming single-player RPG, a social networking game, and an MMO. The massively multiplayer entry is being developed by Bigpoint, a German browser-game specialist known for its Battlestar Galactica game and its love of selling in-game advantages. Whether you're excited about the prospect of killing 10 Lannisters or slitting your wrists over the inevitable MMOification of another beloved fantasy world, the next few months should be interesting to watch.
15 Minutes of Fame: Azeroth to Westeros with Game of Thrones' Kristian Nairn
From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame. If you've read the books behind the spellbinding new HBO series Game of Thrones, you'll instantly recognize the character portrayed by the bearded beast of burden above -- yes, that's Kristian Nairn as Hodor, on the set with young passenger Isaac Hempstead-Wright (as Bran Stark). While you may not recognize Nairn yet if you're new to the gritty fantasy series (he hasn't been onscreen yet), the show itself has been hard to ignore, debuting amidst a deluge of publicity and earning a renewal for a second season after only a single episode. Luckily for us, Nairn's enthusiasm for the World of Warcraft proves to be as capacious as both the series' success and his own 6'10" frame. The Belfast resident, who's also a professional DJ, plays on both US and EU servers (yep, he's that enthusiastic about the game), and once we'd covered the basics by email, he felt there was still so much left to say that we wound up chatting on Skype a few days later. So Hodor -- no, not Hodir, Hodor ... although come to think of it, they're both rather remarkable in stature, and ... awww, heck, set thy nose to the page if you haven't yet read George R.R. Martin's best-selling Song of Ice and Fire series and you don't know who Hodor is. These are characters that'll grab you by the short hairs -- it's the ride of a lifetime. In the meantime, settle in with us for the first of two interviews with Kristian Nairn, from Azeroth to Westeros and back again.
