Brenda Holloway
Articles by Brenda Holloway
What you need to know about The Shadow Odyssey
The Shadow Odyssey, EverQuest II's fifth expansion, is not just the usual bump to the level cap, a couple of new raids, and a reset for all the armor you already got. It's none of those things. What SOE has done with this expansion is go through the level 50 to level 80 portion of the game and say, let's make an expansion that has something for pretty much everyone. Let's make an expansion where even if no upgrades drop, you can be working toward some awesome stuff just by playing.The original EverQuest started out as a supremely casual and social game. It was the players that pushed SOE to make the game more raid focused, but sometime after the heavily raid-oriented Planes of Power expansion, the casual players asked when they'd get an expansion for them. SOE came out with the Lost Dungeons of Norrath, which offered three or four variants at each of six dungeons, meant for single groups of averagely-equipped players. The difficulty and mission type could be selected, and every time you completed a mission, you got points with which you could buy hard-to-find spells, armor of near raid quality, adornments which would push that armor into the quality of raid gear, and some cool stuff only available through the LDoN merchants.The Shadow Odyssey is EverQuest II's Lost Dungeons of Norrath -- and more. Click on through to see why TSO might be the best EQ2 expansion yet. Well met, fellow Norrathian! Make sure to check out all of our coverage of the next EverQuest II expansion, The Shadow Odyssey as well as Seeds of Destruction, the next expansion to EverQuest!
TONIGHT (night night night) Garriott vs Chavez in the fight of the week!
Just a reminder that tonight, Tabula Rasa creator Richard Garriott will be going head-to-head with two-time featherweight boxing champion Jesus Chavez, 6PM US Central Time, in the C.E.L.L.A.R. Arena. They'll be facing off in C.E.L.L.A.R. 3, which can be accessed through the teleported in the barracks in Alia Des.Read more about it and see the promo video in our previous coverage.
Furries let their tails down in Earth Eternal
It's been awhile since we checked in on Sparkplay Media's furry animal MMO, Earth Eternal. The story goes that, eons ago, the creatures known only as "Man", once the greatest of all living things, poisoned the Earth and warred amongst themselves, making themselves extinct. The gods and other elder creatures who had more or less left Man to their own devices, decided to give that whole"mortal creature" thing another try, cleaned up the Earth, and placed the Beast people on it.Earth Eternal will be a free to play, Runescape-like MMO where you play one of sixteen different animal races in a land of adventure and high fantasy. The game runs with a small client that downloads new areas in the background as you encounter them. As well as the usual quests, adventures and dungeon crawls, EE players will be able to make their own Groves, areas of the world of their own design, in two parts. The public part will be above ground, but there will be an equally extensive portion below ground that can be set to be as private as you like. Pictured above is a shared Grove; they can be quite elaborate.We estimate about ... three hours after it goes live before someone makes a Grove named The Island of Misfit Toys. It's not gonna be the kind of place you bring your children, either. Check out the latest teaser video after the break.
Florensia Online enters open beta
Pirate-themed, anime-inspired Japanese import Florensia Online has just entered "Western Global" open beta. Another Asian import MMO? Well, yes, but this does have some nice bits. Florensia is actually two games in one, a sea-faring game and a land-based adventure. You build experience in each separately -- so you can play the game entirely on the land or on the sea, or a combination. You can build your own ships from five basic hulls with dozens of add-ons to make your ship truly individual. There's five classes to start with, and soon there will be twelve, including extended classes. Sieges and faction wars are on the horizon.More on Florensia as we get some battle time with the beta. You can join the fun by registering on their beta sign-up page.
EQ devs talk upcoming expansion, old zone revamps
A half dozen EverQuest developers sat down with their faithful players and discussed the details of the new expansion, Seeds of Destruction, which old zones were next to be hit with the revamp stick, and what other changes were on the horizon for SOE's most venerable, but still popular, game.The next expansion will continue to require faction grinding to progress, similar to that in Secrets of Faydwer, though some changes will be made to address player complaints. Still, World of Warcraft-like faction grinding seems to be a big hit with EQ devs since its introduction in the Dragons of Norrath expansion, and we wll likely see it continue in the foreseeable future.
EverQuest slashing raid size in new expansion
EverQuest developer Clint Worley announced on his blog that in the upcoming EverQuest expansion, raid sizes will be cut from the current level of 54 characters -- 9 groups -- to 42 characters -- 7 groups. No changes will be made to existing raids, which means raids currently doing 54 character raids on current content will have two extra groups when doing the newest content. Since instituting the formal raid system with the Planes of Power expansion, raid sizes have dropped consistently from a high of 72 characters to its current level. While perhaps responding to lower overall numbers in SOE's oldest MMO, player reaction to this change on Worley's blog has, as of this writing, been uniformly negative.Players fear the EverQuest developers are reducing raid size to be more inline with other games -- SOE's own EverQuest II has had a maximum raid size of 24 characters since launch, and with Wrath of the Lich King, Blizzard will allow all new raid content to be done with either ten or twenty-five character teams. Others worry that smaller raid sizes will push out the casual raider, who cannot perhaps carry their full weight but is still a valued member of the guild. Similar arguments have been levied against World of Warcraft as Blizzard has consistently lowered their raid sizes from 40 to the current 10/25.
Frogster will drown you in new MMOs ... if you live in Europe
Frogster, noted European and Asian MMO publisher, has released a flying voidship-load of information about their upcoming MMOs for the European market.Long awaited fantasy MMO The Chronicles of Spellborn is still due out late this year, with open beta to begin in October. We've been following this game closely for some time, but it looks like the rumored US publisher (given their prior relationship, perhaps Aeria Games) is not yet ready to announce North American release dates for the game. The World of Warcraft-ish Asian Import Runes of Magic, newly rescored and tuned toward Western tastes, will enter closed beta in September, for a European release about two months later. Isometric pet-raising, caveman-themed MMO StoneAge 2, already in open beta in North America, will be entering European closed beta in August ahead of a fall release. Next week, Frogster will release more information on its latest MMO, soccer-themed Kickster (formerly Kick Off). And they want us to keep an eye out for an expansion to the Bounty Bay Online pirate MMO.Assuming you live in Europe, which ones should you particularly keep your eye on? If you bought a Gameboy just to play Pokemon, you might really enjoy StoneAge 2. If a subscription fee is keeping you from playing World of Warcraft, Runes of Magic might just be different enough to get you interested, and it will be free to play. If you liked Age of Conan's innovative combat system but couldn't get into the world of Hyboria, Spellborn's unique setting and combat system combined with its lush visuals might sell you.Check out screenshots from each of these games in the gallery below.%Gallery-28277%
Pi Story opens open beta
If you ever played Secret of Mana on the Super Nintendo, and thought it would be totally awesome if they could make that sort of side scrolling, action-adventure fun into an MMO, then Aeria Games' Pi Story might be just the game you're looking for. To give you that chance, they have just started open beta, and further, in the most time-limited offer ever, they are giving away 50% bonus Aeria Points (the tender of their cash shop), if you buy before noon US Pacific Time (3PM Eastern Time). So if you're a fan of any of Aeria Games' MMOs, and the sale is still on, check it out.Pi Story is a sidescrolling MMO in the style of old console action RPGs. Players meet in hub cities, and grouping is as easy as clicking on someone's "Join Party" button over their heads, and heading to an adventure is then a single click away. Additionally, you have your own room to decorate, and though the game can be played entirely for free, there is a cash shop available for purchasing power-ups and other goodies.
Neopets creators enter the MMO world with Twin Skies
After a bit of a tease a couple of weeks ago, Meteor Games, founded by the creators of the kids Flash game portal Neopets, has announced details of their first-ever MMO. Twin Skies will be a blend of a traditional, 3D MMO with innovative out-of-game elements. For instance, certain web-based mini-games can earn you a monster in-game, who will roam about, fight, and even send you pictures of the hapless newbies it kills. That ... is so deliciously evil. Other mini-games could change the weather in-game, open a chest full of loot, or other game-changing things. Continuing with the theme from Neopets, every Twin Skies player will have their own pet to aid them in their travels. While killing beasties will be one way of progressing through the game, the social aspects and of course, the mini-games, will keep people busy no matter how they like to play.Kids have no expectations of what MMOs are like, so it's easier for companies to innovate. Playing web-based minigames to aid your character in-game, or just messing with people by spawning monsters on them -- you'll be able to play some parts of Twin Skies no matter where you are. That's a trend you'll certainly see more of in the future.[Via Under Twin Skies]
LotRO's new Minstrel animations
Is your Minstrel looking down-in-the-dumps? Is he plunking despondently at the strings of his tired old lute? Does every song she sing sound like "Happy Birthday To You" and it doesn't sound like she means it? Has your Minstrel just "accidentally" stepped on his third harp this week? Well, help is on the way. All-new animations for the minstrels of Lord of the Rings Online are up on the Roheryn test server, and Sabacao has mastered them all. Check them out below the cut.
New wall textures for Lord of the Rings Online
Lord of the Rings Online player Harp has been doing a lot of fishing to earn enough Summer Festival tokens to get all the new wallpapers. They cost 12 Summer Festival tokens per new wall, and are sold, one each, in Bree-land, Bywater, Celondim and Thorin's Hall. Three of the walls are pleasant floral patterns; the fourth is an elaborate, stylized sun-and-tree motif (pictured) which can be dyed various shades. Other house items include window boxes and vegetable gardens, as well as some clothing and party goods.Make sure to check out our Lord of the Rings Online Summer Festival guide to get full details on the mini-games and prizes you can earn from this in-game event.%Gallery-27209%
SOE announces scholarship winner
SOE's Gamers In Real Life (G.I.R.L.) program has found its first scholarship winner. Julia Brasil of San Francisco wins $10,000 scholarship, and a ten week internship at the SOE studio of her choice. The competition, announced last April, was designed to encourage women to enter the games industry. SOE has an interview with Ms. Brasil on the GIRL website, and they must have found it at least a little ironic that her current favorite MMO is not any SOE game, but Age of Conan. Brasil credited online games with teaching her English and helping with her puzzle-solving ability and abstract thinking. Big congrats to Brasil, and we're definitely hoping she goes on to make great games.[Via Gamesindustry.biz]
Runes of Magic beta registration and website opens
Runes of Magic, the eerily-similar-to-World of Warcraft Asian import being published in Europe by Frogster and in North America by persons as yet unknown* has just opened beta registration on their shiny new website. Runes of Magic, known as Radiant Arcana in Asia, will be free to play and has super high production values, so heck, why not check it out? Being able to have two jobs at once a la Final Fantasy XI and Guild Wars could be pretty cool, so if you've ever wanted to be a hunter/priest in WoW, well, now you can (except they call their hunters "scouts").We'll have more about Runes of Magic once beta opens, but you can discuss the game with other eager prospective players in their newly-opened forums. Prize for best question so far: "will the leveling system be like WoW ( few weeks to reach max level) or a shorter leveling system?". Because it took FOREVER to reach max level in WoW when it was released. You know your WoW-like is on the right track when people wonder how to get past the boring stuff to the good stuff at max level before they've even seen the game.* hey, Frogster, who is going to bring The Chronicles of Spellborn to North America?
Tabula Rasa weekend roundup
The Tabula Rasa Friday Night Fights were, according to the Weekend Wrapup, more sparsely attended than usual because of the holiday, but the competition was still tight. Slamscape and Embers rose through the ranks in their respective brackets before they met each other in battle. After a fierce battle, Slamscape claimed the title of Friday Night Fight champion. Slamscape and his partner, Bethel, then faced Embers and Grier in the Final Challenge, but lost. Next week, the competitors will once again face Glass, Tabula Rasa's only four time championship winner, and soon to be, perhaps, it's first five time winner.Community manager April "CuppaJo" Burba is leaving the Tabula Rasa team for another position at NCsoft, and to give her a memorable farewell, they threw her a dance party. The images from the dance party are so disturbing, they will be branded into your brain forever. Look at them at your own peril.
Nolan Bushnell on the rise of advertising and the casual game
Nolan Bushnell, who bootstrapped the entire video game industry with Computer Space, Pong and the Atari 2600, later went on to found Chuck E. Cheese and several other ventures, has the solution for expanding the size of the gaming market. Casual games, everywhere. And how to pay for them? 30 second ad spots -- commercials, just like the ones on television or before movies. And he can target these ads better than ever. Are ad-supported games the wave of the future? In your MMO of choice five years from now, will a shampoo ad run whenever you ding? And by then, will you even mind? Gamasutra interviews Nolan Bushnell about casual games, targeted advertising, and the death of the hardcore gamer.
A conversation about MMOs: Why the WoW leveling/raiding model works so well
What happens when one of EverQuest's most famous players and one of the the MMO world's most respected designers spend ninety minutes talking about the current glut of "leveling/raiding" MMOs, the good and bad points to them, and how they could be improved? Qhue from the Fires of Heaven forums and Scott Hartsman, former lead developer for SOE's EverQuest II, did just that. Find out why mid-level raid content is a bad idea, what World of Warcraft players expected to find in Age of Conan (and what they found instead), why a solo path to max level is important, why betas must spoil things, and why trying to keep the WoW players you lure away with new shinies is nearly impossible.If you've ever wanted to sit down with a designer and have him explain exactly why today's most popular MMOs are the way they are, you have to read this conversation about MMOs.
Blizzard's gold farmer bans sends world economy into tailspin
Sure, the price of oil may seem harsh tese days, and pulling up to the pump is certainly no bargain ... But the worst is yet to come. Those whose business it is to track the price World of Warcraft gold goes for on the black market have seen the price of gold double in the past couple of weeks, likely due to a mighty swing of Blizzard's ban hammer. With the highly profitable gold farming operations shutting down due to the suddenly lowered demand and supply, an easy source of liquid assets is now gone. The ripple effects will be felt globally. Until those brave gold farmers can get back in business, long lines at the pump may translate to long lines in the unemployment office.An over-reaction? Perhaps. But Andrew at GameRates describes, in a tongue-in-cheek way, how protests against the high price of fuel will lead to protests against the high price of gold. So seriously -- have you stopped buying gold until the price comes down? What's the best price point for WoW gold? And would you consider buying gold at a higher price in order to help the Chinese gold farmers over this difficult hump?Note: Massively in no way condones the buying and selling of gold or the breaking of any EULA in any way We're just interested in hearing from people who choose to on their own accord.
PlaneShift announces version 0.4.01
Free to play, community-developed fantasy MMO PlaneShift today announces their latest release, version 0.4.01. PlaneShift runs well on Windows, Mac OS/X and Linux, and wouldn't it be nice if more MMOs followed that wonderful example? PlaneShift boasts 500,000 registered users, a fully immersive 3D world, quests, monsters, and so many features that they're having to cut some out. This newest version of PlaneShift comes with more changes than we can list here, but you can find the entire change log on their site.
Dynamedion contributes soundtrack to Runes of Magic
What would a high fantasy MMO be without an accompanying orchestral soundtrack? The themes to EverQuest, World of Warcraft, Dark Age of Camelot and so on bring weight and importance to the adventure, and nobody can listen to the theme to the game they loved without having all the memories of close calls and fun times immediately come to mind.Runes of Magic publisher Frogster has asked renowned German soundtrack composers Dynamedion to compose just such a soundtrack for their upcoming free-to-play fantasy MMO. Managing Director Pierre Langer (pictured) says about the soundtrack, "We see Runes of Magic as an amazing challenge. It is [...] our first Fantasy-MMO, one of our preferred genres." Dynamedion has contributed music to games such as Spellforce, John Woo's Stranglehold, Anno 1701, Drakensang and Die Siedler V & VI, and movies such as 10.000 B.C. and The Bourne Ultimatum.We've set the pictures from yesterday's peek into the starting zone, to some of the newly-composed music to Runes of Magic, after the break.
Into the depths of the Akheva Ruins
Laugh while you can, Luclin. In five hundred years, you and your whole frickin' moon get blowed up. All the Akhevans who worship you, all those bubble-headed Centi alien creatures, all those weird red-skinned cavemen, those mana-sucking mind worms, it all goes kablooey. But you know all about that, don't you? Because when that world-enveloping storm, the Maiden's Scar, swept through this old Akhevan city of Ka Vethan, and left behind the Akheva Ruins we know today, and all your four-armed, sexless minions ran off in terror to Vex Thal, you just stopped caring. Let it all blow up, you screamed in your dark joy. Let them all die.The Akheva Ruins, that old stronghold of the Akheva made of crystallized shadow, a once-living shrine to their mistress and creator, the Dark Maiden Luclin, is in shambles. Though seen today mainly as the level 50 to 55 hot zone, it's still a place of dark mystery and lore, explored in EQPlayer's latest entry in its "Into the Depths" series exploring the lore behind EverQuest zones. One thing they don't mention? How great Centi Toes taste in stew!