commander
Latest
Guild Wars 2 retools commander icons, fees
As Massively's Anatoli Ingram discussed in his Flameseeker Chronicles column yesterday, Guild Wars 2's September feature pack will include significant changes to the commander system that marks player volunteers as leaders on various world maps. After the patch, commander tags will become account-bound rather than character-bound, meaning your newbie Asura can strut around Metrica Province as if she owns the place. Consequently, tags will triple in price to 300 gold. Players will also be able to customize their icons with spiffy new colors intended to "facilitate a range of tactical uses" like organizing groups in PvE and PvP. Already a commander? Lucky you: ArenaNet says you'll be grandfathered into the new system for no extra fee. The studio plans to consider "possibilities for recognizing experienced and prestigious commanders" in the future.
PSA: Battlefield 4 Commander app now free on iTunes
Controlling the flow of combat in Battlefield 4 just became a bit more convenient thanks to the launch of the iOS Tablet Commander app. While the app won't be of much help in a straight up firefight, it does allow players to take control of the game's Commander mode from the comfort of the nearest iPad. Using touchscreen controls, the app allows would-be generals to scout the entire map at once, direct teammates on where to go, and call in airstrikes, either from Cruise missiles or nearby attack helicopters. Since the app fundamentally changes the way Battlefield 4 is played, virtual commanders will not find themselves ranked as usual at the end of a match. Instead, they'll be competing directly with the other team's commander. If there is no commander on the other team, just pat yourself on the back every time you ruin someone's day with a few hundred pounds of precision-guided explosives. The Battlefield 4 Tablet Commander app can now be downloaded for free from the iTunes App Store. Developer DICE claims that an Android version of the app will be available soon.
EVE Evolved: Merging EVE with DUST 514
When console MMOFPS DUST 514 was first announced, players were cautious of the game's ambitious goals. Developers promised that DUST battles would decide the ownership of planets inside PC MMO EVE Online, and that this would tie into system sovereignty and ultimately ownership of entire regions of space. We expected the two games to have separate communities and economies that would interact only when EVE players hired DUST mercenaries to take over sectors of particular planets, but we couldn't have been more wrong. Two years later, CCP blew our expectations out of the water with details of how DUST and EVE will be practically joined at the hip. We learned that the two games would share the exact same corporations and that ISK would be transferable between games. We also got a glimpse of the incredible plans for realtime integration, with EVE ships able to deliver air strikes to planets and DUST players able to shoot down ships in orbit with ground cannon. But have those ambitious goals stayed in focus during development, and what can we expect from DUST when it launches early next year? In this week's EVE Evolved opinion piece, I look through the public information on DUST 514's launch integration with EVE Online and speculate on how the link may evolve after release.
Be Cool about this upcoming Dance Central DLC
Over the next three weeks, Harmonix hopes to sell you three difficult DLC tracks in Dance Central 2 – well, unless you're some big city kid who's moved to a small town, of course. John Lithgow need not apply.First up is "We Speak No Americano" from Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP, a "hardcore" routine set to drop on Xbox Live on April 10. Following on April 17 is another "hardcore" number: "Commander" from Kelly Rowland (featuring David Guetta). Finally, on April 24, Pitbull's (featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer) "Give Me Everything" will be available for download, which is graded "tough."Each track will be available for 240 MS Points ($3) through Xbox Live Marketplace. Beyond the sample gameplay video above, we've embedded each track past the break for your boogeying pleasure.
MechWarrior Online previews BattleMech upgrades and pilot skill trees
A couple of days ago, Piranha Games -- the studio behind the upcoming MechWarrior Online -- gave us a look at the role-based warfare and character progression we can expect from the robot-fighting title. As we reported last week, players in MWO will fall into of four roles: scout, assault, defense, or command. Today's update on the game's official site gives us a closer look at the various ways that players can earn XP and on what they can spend it. For instance, every 'Mech will have an upgrade tree, which is divided into tiers. Players must spend experience in order to purchase all of the upgrades on a given tier before they are able to access the subsequent tier. To get a look at the various abilities and skill trees through which players will be progressing when they finally find themselves in the cockpit, just click on through the link below to the official MechWarrior Online site.
Wasteland Diaries: Launch 2.0
Fallen Earth is officially free-to-play with patch 2.0. There are very few restrictions on the free accounts, so if you haven't at least tried it out, you really have no excuse. If it's been a while since you've played, you might want to pop in and check it out. A lot has changed, and there's no need to sub up to take a look. The world is pretty well populated now. Even Los Alamos was crowded again, like it used to be over a year ago. The starter towns were packed with new players all running around with their axes and air rifles. The population is certainly healthy at the moment; hopefully it will last. It's been over two years since Fallen Earth went live, and it's also probably been over two years since the wasteland has had so many people in it. LifeNet gear is back in style again. Players are trotting around on "Old Nags," and the Help channel is a fusillade of questions that many of the more helpful and knowledgeable players try to keep up with. I spent a few hours traveling around and watching the crowds. Seeing the swarms of players and the dead mobs littering the desert sand in Sector 1 reminded me of launch day back in September of '09. But the difference is this: There are more players everywhere, which means many of the old players have returned as well. I've noticed some big changes already, and I'll share those with you right after the cut.
Wasteland Diaries: F2P -- What to expect
Fallen Earth is going free-to-play on October 12th. That's the plan, anyway. Four different subscriber levels will be available. The free accounts will actually have quite a bit of freedom with in the game (in fact, I'm shocked at how few restrictions they will have). The highest tier is a bit pricey for what you get, but we don't want a pay-to-win system, right? There's a fine line between giving paying customers something worthwhile and upsetting the balance of the entire universe. I'll discuss each subscription level later on in the post. There are still a few concerns that many in the Fallen Earth community (including me) have about the F2P transition, and not all of them are technical concerns. I'm really not sure what to expect exactly as far as numbers of players, but I'm sure we'll see a huge influx of players both new and returning. How many exactly? I don't have a clue. I'll cover the sub levels first and then discuss my fears about what's to come afterward. So click past the cut and let's get started.
Proposed Fallen Earth F2P chart separates the scavengers from the commanders
While we didn't get much out of GamersFirst at PAX this past week about Fallen Earth's plans for this fall and the free-to-play conversion, it looks like news will find a way nevertheless. Creep the Prophet posted a proposed (please note that word) membership matrix for Fallen Earth when the F2P switch is triggered. Similar to other F2P charts we've seen, this boasts a variety of subscription levels, from the F2P "Scavenger" to the ultra-deluxe "Commander." The good news is that a majority of the game would, under this matrix, become simply free to all, including all zones, all levels, and skills. Free players will face a few restrictions, including crafting limitations, no access to global chat, only one character slot, and a slower rate of gaining XP and AP. The better subscription levels offer discounts to the game's store, faster progress in the game, monthly gifts, and a full range of features. Subscribers will also receive an in-game "aura," that will allow them to share some of these bonuses with their less-fortunate F2P brothers and sisters. No prices have been attached to this chart, and it could be subject to change between now and the F2P conversion, which should happen sometime between October and December.
Anomaly: Warzone Earth coming to Mac, iPhone and iPad
Anomaly: Warzone Earth is a tower defense game with a twist -- instead of placing towers to take down attackers, you actually control attackers, trying to navigate a convoy in between alien defenses. Through both a 14-mission story/campaign mode and a few endless options, you command your squad using deployables like Smoke and Decoy, various unit types that can be upgraded and tweaked, and whatever strategies you can dream up. The game is a nice mix of strategy and action, constantly driving your convoy through alien turrets while planning out the best and safest route to take. The game has already been announced for the iPhone, iPad and the PC, but this post serves as the official announcement that the game is coming to Mac as well. It is scheduled for an early 2011 release, and we're told that the Polish developer, 11 bit studios, is planning to bring the game to the Mac App Store, though a price hasn't been determined yet. We'll keep an eye out for the game when it releases -- in the meantime, feel free to browse through and check out these exclusive shots of the game's Tokyo level in the gallery below. %Gallery-114617%
Massively's hands-on with End of Nations' PvE and PvP
You know that scene in Contact in which Jodie Foster is looking out at the cosmos, telling the folks at mission control that they should have sent a poet? All the while I was playing End of Nations at Trion World's Gamer's Day event, I kept thinking, "Massively should have sent a StarCraft guru!" I initially felt very much out of my element. MMOs and RPGs are my shtick; I only rarely dive into turn-based strategy games. And RTS games? Forget it. They don't agree with me. If it doesn't have a pause button, I probably don't have time for it. I'm too easily distractible, too impatient, and too exhausted after a work-day of multi-tasking to spend my playtime multi-tasking even more. There's just no time for cooking meals, browsing lolcats, and chatting with the spouse when you're neck-deep in an RTS. RTS games are serious business; they require my undivided attention and concentration, and I don't like doing things halfway. And yet maybe that makes me just the right person to try out an MMORTS hybrid like Trion's EoN. Most people who give it a spin when it hits the market will probably have a lot in common with me -- they'll be loyalists to one side or the other, not to both. Maybe an RTS novice is just the sort of person who can test out the game, present it to MMO gamers, and explain just what the heck this game thinks it's doing playing around in our end of the pool. Or maybe I'll end up sobbing amidst the charred remains of my tank minions. You'll never know if you don't hit the break! %Gallery-99563%
Two Bosses Enter: The Commanders vs. Krik'thir the Gatewatcher
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. Welcome to Round Two of the five-man Wrath of the Lich King season. Grab a seat, and let's get ready to rumble! Here's a nasty melee match for this week's Two Bosses Thunderdome: Commander Kolurg/Stoutbeard of The Nexus versus Krik'thir the Gatewatcher from Azjol-Nerub. You may want to wear a splatter guard if you're sitting near the fence on this one - we can only imagine the carnage as the Commander's Whirlwind makes contact with Krik'thir's minions.The ground rules: Assume that the opponents and any minions share similar levels, health pools and comparative overall damage output. This deathmatch takes place in neutral territory, which shall not hinder either boss from using his usual encounter abilities. All the usual minions will be available to each boss. Don't get caught up in gameplay mechanics and what actual players might do in each encounter. Don't neglect style, story and scale. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls ... Dyin' time's here.
EVE Evolved: PvP masterclass - Fleet warfare
Fleet warfare in EVE Online is a big step up from the small, casual PvP gangs discussed in last week's PvP Masterclass article. In this guide, I explore the day to day activities of EVE's largest combat machinations, from 30-man faction warfare gangs to 300-man territorial fleets. In stark contrast to a small and highly mobile gang, a large fleet is a lumbering hulk that favours combined firepower and good co-ordination over all else. Massive fleets of hundreds of pilots routinely clash in the outskirts of EVE's lawless 0.0 space. But when they move at the speed of their slowest member and are really only as good as their fleet commander, what can you do to make sure your fleet is a success?Fight-by-numbers:The essence of fleet warfare is that using more ships is usually better. By focusing all attacks on one enemy at a time, a larger fleet has a very high damage potential. It also allows a more diverse range of ship types to take part in the fight such as an electronic warfare wing or sniper squadron. Forming a large fleet usually requires some planning and co-ordination, making them less suited to casual PvP and more suited to organised assaults on specific targets like POS.Read on as I tackle the question of how to make a fleet effective from the perspective of both the fleet's individual members and the fleet commander.
Age of Conan Product Developer interview, with gameplay video
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Age_of_Conan_interview_and_video'; On December 5th, I was invited to the Eidos/Funcom Age of Conan press event, where I was privileged enough to be granted access to both the game itself and the development team. I was able to play the opening area, leading into the first town. I sussed out the combat and the conversation interface. I spoke with Jørgen Tharaldsen, the Product Developer, and he let drop a metric ton of knowledge upon my fevered noggin. I reprint here our conversation, interspersed with my handheld-shot video pieces, the first of which is shown above, which is where the game starts, with you as a survivor of a shipwrecked slaver ship. I'd like to thank Jørgen and the entire Eidos/Funcom team, all of whom I found to be gracious, witty, and enthusiastic about their game, which is refreshing to see. My take? The game looks incredible, and it's extremely immersive from the get-go. They say they're on schedule for an early 2008 release, so this is something to anticipate indeed. More videos and the interview after the jump!
Battlefield 2142 scans of PC Gamer cover story leaked
The Battlefield 2142 hoopla is starting to look more and more real as scans of the PC Gamer issue in question have surfaced online with BF 2142 featured as the magazine's May cover story. Digg contributor Iced_Eagle has pointed us to an 8.5MB archive of images from the mag, with 9 pages concerned with 2142 and 2 pages having to do with Half-Life 2: Episode 1. If you're interested in knowing "where your unstoppable 20-foot Mech is," then you'd best get to that reading online or off ASAP. For those still skeptical of any gaming news outlet coming out with such a story in the general vicinity of April Fools' Day, keep in mind that the game appears to not only be the magazine's cover story, but that its coverage also fills up all those pages of print mentioned earlier. EGM merely dedicated a single page with a brief line in the table of contents to its Apple iGame prank this year, so this would seem like a lot of effort on PC Gamer or some extremely dedicated Photoshopper's part to fool the gaming public. Will this fall prove to be the point when the BF franchise finally frags in the future? At this point, it would certainly seem so. Read on for further details about the game; the cover pic links to the scans.
