time travel
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The Perfect Ten: Excuses for ditching a dungeon run (from least to most insane)
I never knew I suffered from narcolepsy before I started playing MMOs, but it only took a few late-night dungeon-runs before I started to experience extremely rapid transitions between being an active member of my team and snoring somewhere in the vicinity of the WASD keys. I'm not saying that all dungeons are boring or anything, but rather that when you start one, you've kind of committed to seeing it through (unless you're the jerk who always teams up with me through the LFG tool). Unfortunately, that means you're locked into an unknowable span of time during which narcolepsy, hunger, and brilliant flashes of insight about how to cure Chronic Giggling Syndrome (CGS) can strike. What can you do? Usually, nothing other than to suffer through the slow plodding of your four other ball-and-chains and start burning small sacrifices to your deity of choice in hopes that this run will end soon. Or you can pull out an excuse and get out of Dodge. I'm not saying you should use these every night -- you will build up a very negative reputation, quickly, if you do so -- but sometimes you just need an escape hatch so you can go sleep, eat or call the CGS laboratories in Albuquerque. That's what I'm here to help you with today by providing 10 tested excuses to ditching that disastrous dungeon run and getting on with your life.
'Screenshot' tech demo is two-thirds Portal, one-third time travel
It's pretty rare for us to post about tech demos here on Joystiq, since they're not actually games and everything, but ThePodunkian's "screenshot" concept is so enthralling and mind-blowing that we had no choice but to share it with the class.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 has time travel, we have new screenshots
Listen up, Cher: With Final Fantasy XIII-2's time travel/plot device the "Historia Crux," you can turn back time, and maybe even find a way, provided you find the right stuff. By locating hidden "Artefacts," Cher can unlock new locations and times for Noel and Serah to visit via the Historia Crux, which serves as the sequel's main vehicle for story progression and world navigation. As any seasoned time traveller will tell you, changing stuff in the past changes stuff in the future, and because of that XIII-2's overall experience is said to be much less linear and direct than its predecessor. According to director Motomu Toriyama, Square Enix is aiming for a "much more player driven concept," with the "gameplay and story itself" changing around the player's actions. You can also expect to encounter younger (and potentially older) versions of characters from Final Fantasy XIII proper along the way. This may be Final Fantasy's first and last hoorah in the realm of time travel, however. Toriyama says that each entry in the series receives its own unique gameplay system, and that have no intentions of making time travel key in future installments. Additionally, player-testing has already revealed strong comparisons to Chrono Trigger, and while Toriyama doesn't categorize that information as being especially negative, we doubt Square Enix wants to seem iterative or uninspired.%Gallery-132981%
Achron manipulates real-time strategies in new launch trailer
Some of the best science fiction and fantasy stories contain elements of time manipulation -- Doctor Who, Braid, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Harry Potter, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure -- and Hazardous Software's new time-travel RTS, Achron, is poised to join this prestigious group. Achron releases tomorrow on Steam and at the game's official site, and this most recent launch trailer breaks down the intricacies of using time to defend your base. Hint: Use it; don't abuse it.
Scientists prove cosmological speed limit, time travel moves a little further out of reach
The cosmological speed limit remains unbroken. A team of researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, led by Du Shengwang, claim to have proven that a single photon is incapable of traveling faster than light. The support for Einstein's special theory of relativity all but rules out the simplest form of time travel -- breaking the universe's traffic laws to condense time within a vessel. Don't get freaked out though, this doesn't mean time travel is impossible, only that it will be much more difficult than firing up a warp drive. General relativity still holds hope for bending and ripping the space-time continuum to meet our eon-hopping desires. Looks like it's time to get working on our flux capacitor technology.
Captain's Log: The reverse slingshot effect
Captain's Log, Stardate 65056.3... Hello, computer (and players)! The slingshot effect is a maneuver, shown throughout the Star Trek franchise, which allowed starships to move back through the time continuum. By traveling at a high warp factor towards a star with a large gravitational pull, the ship would whip around it and time travel. While this seemed to only exist within the realms of the IP, it looks as though Star Trek Online's Executive Producer Dan Stahl took us on a reverse slingshot course, giving us a glimpse into the future of the game. Before we returned to the original timeline, he made sure to write up everything we saw along the way for those who couldn't make the trip. In layman's terms, for those of you who missed the news earlier this week, July's Engineering Report has been released. While this is a monthly publication that contains the development pipeline for STO, including some items that have been featured in past issues, there are always a few bullet points added that seem to spark a healthy amount of debate -- one of these includes the ability to auction off your in-game Emblems, a form of currency, for C-Store points that have been paid for with real money. For information on this, including a response from Cryptic's PR department, and more, read ahead past the jump for this week's Captain's Log entry. Ensign, warp 10! Let's pull a slingshot maneuver of our own...
Gods & Heroes sells Centurion helmet on Amazon
If you're anything like the folks here at Massively, it's hard for you to figure out the right outfit to wear for gaming. Sweats? Too pathetic. Suit and tie? Too formal. Boxers or briefs? We don't want to know. Fortunately, Heatwave Interactive has come to the rescue with the definitive gaming accoutrement for Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising players: a $220 replica of a Roman Centurion Helmet. This "fully wearable" helmet is now available for pre-order on Amazon, although you'll have to be quick and lucky to get one, as there are only 200 available. It's described as having "a pronounced red plume and is made of heavy gauge high carbon steel complete with brass accents and fittings." No mention is made as to whether this would be useful in a real-life battle or not, so buyer beware if you're purchasing this in the hopes that it will protect you the next time you jump into your time machine and go back to the second century. Gods & Heroes launched last week, and Massively has you covered on all the details. Except your head. We do not cover your head.
The Perfect Ten: Predictions for The Old Republic
I'm going to share with you a deep secret about the Massively staff: Pretty much all of us hate Larry. Oh, as a person he's likable enough, and he showers regularly, so no complaints there. He even saved the President's dog once and earned the Merit of Patriotic Pooches. Women swoon at his feet, and men occasionally throw their billfolds at him just so that he can afford to live the luxurious lifestyle that he obviously deserves. No, we hate him for a different reason entirely. You see, Larry gets the privilege and honor of being the Star Wars: The Old Republic reporter in these here parts, which has earned him no end of envy from the rest of us. Whenever we're all talking about TOR, Shawn will come in the room and tell all of us to cut it out -- except Larry. "Larry, it's your job to talk about The Old Republic. Keep on truckin', pal! You're the best!" And then Larry sticks his tongue out at us and makes pretend lightsaber noises for an hour or so while we grit our teeth. But then I remembered: I have a top ten column! In which I can talk about anything! And if that subject so happened to be TOR, then for one glorious week I could actually talk about BioWare's upcoming MMO without fear of reprisal from upper management! So today is all about my predictions for The Old Republic. Nine of them will come true; one will not. Have fun guessing which one!
Theorists get us closer to believing time travel is possible via the Large Hadron Collider
Hard to say if Doc Brown would give this his coveted seal of approval, but our gullible minds have already been made up: time travel is not only possible, but it's well within reach. A gaggle of scientists have apparently figured out a theory that could use the Large Hadron Collider to move a Higgs singlet back and forth through time. The 'catch' is that they have yet to prove the existence of said singlet, but the upside is that nothing in theory violates any laws of physics or experimental constraints. In other words, this wouldn't enable a human to move back and forth along the universal timetable à la Fringe, but it could allow for messages to be sent forward and back. About 14 other improbable things have to happen before this could even be tested, but if you're even remotely interested in the concept (c'mon, you are), you owe it to yourself to give those source links a peek.
GDC 2011: Allods Online orders a mega-patch with a launch on the side
It's utterly bizarre to consider that Allods Online, for as long as it's been out and playable by the masses, has yet to leave the boundaries of open beta. As we mentioned yesterday, this is about to change, as gPotato announced that the next patch would finally bring the title to an official release. And what a patch this is! Allods players will feast upon a gourmet meal with all the fixins, including a rise in the level cap from 42 to 47. This means that the talent grids are getting bigger as a result, so expect new skills and abilities across the board. Players will receive a talent point reset to let them rebuild their characters if so desired. Check out 16 brand-new screenshots of the patch below, and hit the jump for an in-depth look at Allods' growth and illuminating videos! %Gallery-91331%
LEGO Universe invites players to battle for Nimbus Station
Grab three of your buddies, gear up, and get ready to travel through time to save the LEGO Universe (or at least, Nimbus Station). Starting on February 23rd, NetDevil and the LEGO Group are inviting groups of four players to journey backwards to battle the evil Maelstrom in a thrilling confrontation to decide Nimbus Station's fate. You'll need to find Wenn Wuzzit, a Venture League time traveler who has taken up residence in the present-day Nimbus Station. His time-twister contraption serves as your personal way-back machine and as a gateway to epic battles vs. 30 waves of enemies and bosses. In addition to the Nimbus Station shenanigans, LEGO Universe is releasing new build missions and achievements tied to players' Property Worlds. Four new dailies and 12 new achievements are on tap, with rewards that include faction tokens, Mega Brick booster packs, and new Doom Star and Behavior Model sets. Sound exciting? Check out all the details via the new trailer after the cut.
The Perfect Ten: The sadistic shopper's list for Black Friday and Cyber Monday
With the holiday shopping season upon us, gamers are hot for great deals and cheap entertainment. As my wife's logic goes, if something is 80% off, you buy it, even if you didn't really want it in the first place. It's the principle of the thing, an automatic 80% dose of smug satisfaction at being a savvy shopper! Not every deal should be pursued, however. Although most video games are playable for years and decades after release, not so with MMOs that have had their service shuttered. It's recently come to my attention that even though these games are completely unplayable -- rendered nothing more than a few cents' worth of a DVD and cardboard packaging -- online retailers haven't kept up with the times and keep these products on the virtual shelves long past their expiration dates. That's not to say you should avoid these products at all cost, because studies show that a large percentage of Massively readers have a sick and twisted sense of humor. What would make a better gift this Christmas than a multi-million-dollar-budget MMO that died a horrible death years before? So don't be the typical gifter who settles for a Blu-ray player or an iPod -- give a package of misery, disillusionment and broken dreams! Hit the jump for 10 items that absolutely belong in your shopping cart if you wish to be feared!
The Road to Mordor: Will our journey take us back to The Hobbit?
The next few years promise to be exciting ones for fans of Middle-earth. Ever since The Return of the King debuted in theaters in 2003, audiences have clamored for more of Tolkien on the big screen -- specifically, The Hobbit. After nearly a decade of back-and-forth negotiating and legal entanglements, it appears that this The Hobbit movies are finally going to happen, with Sir Peter Jackson once again in the director's chair and Martin Freeman taking on the lead role as Bilbo. That's smashing news for movie buffs, but what does this have to do with Lord of the Rings Online -- y'know, that MMO we sometimes talk about in this column? It could be "very little," with Turbine proceeding on its merry way and perhaps enjoying the free boost to playership as movie buffs hunt around for a game to extend the experience. However, if the company were smart, it would be laying out the groundwork right now to synergize the heck out of the movie with a similar in-game experience. For a while now, I've been chewing on the notion that Turbine could incorporate the events, locations and characters of The Hobbit into LotRO -- in fact, several of the key pieces are already in place. Could our journey in LotRO eventually take us back to the era of Bilbo's grand adventure? How would such a thing even work? Hit the jump and I will smack your brain so hard with ideas that you'll forget all of your piano lessons. It's OK -- you didn't really need them.
The coming conclusion for Final Fantasy XI's Wings of the Goddess
Time travel storylines are one of the most complicated things that can be done in any sort of fiction, even more so in MMOs. But Final Fantasy XI has been working hard at keeping the story of Wings of the Goddess personal and engaging, and players have responded positively to the experience as a whole. Still, all good things come to an end, and the expansion storyline will be coming to a close with the September version update. The small preview of the upcoming conclusion hints at what might be around the corner for the adventurers who have braved the time-ruining antics of the Spitewardens and Atomos. Lilith's appearance marks further wrinkles in the already-convoluted timestream, with the possibility of her future inching ever closer for all of Vana'diel. If you've been following the story from the beginning, it promises to be a very emotional finale, and Final Fantasy XI players will be able to enjoy it starting next month.
SDCC 2010: Up, up and away at the DCUO panel
Are you pumped for DC Universe Online after watching the recent "Who Do You Trust?" trailer or our own interview with John Smedley? We can hardly blame you -- it's tough being a superhero waiting in the wings. While we count down the days until its November 2nd launch, there's a lot more DCUO goodness to be had. Massively was on hand at the DCUO panel at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, where Jens Andersen, Chris Cao, Marv Wolfman, Jim Lee and Mark Hamill (who is reprising his voice work as the Joker) were on hand to answer questions about DC's upcoming title. Hit the jump for the full skinny on time travel, heroes, villains and Bat-shark repellent.
Modern technology sent through time vortex, redesigned for 1977
A brilliant homage to today's gadgets and yesterday's penchant for Sepia tones, graphic designer Alex Varanese has reimagined four modern-day gadgets and created a series of print ads for his ALT/1977 collection: Pocket Hi-Fi, LapTron 64, MobileVoxx, and Microcade 3000. We're smitten, but of course we'd be irresponsible not to point out the paradox here: should Varanese ever accomplish his mission of traveling back in time with modern gear, it'll expedite technology advancement up to the point where he originally left and create a recursion of infinite improvements... oh, just quit thinking and enjoy the pretty pictures already!
The Daily Grind: If you could change a past MMO decision, what would it be?
Whether you're Marty McFly or stuck in Groundhog Day forever, we always have a fascination with the thought of going back in time to change a decision, right a wrong, or reverse the course of history. It's a hypothetical question that appeals to our sometimes crystal-clear hindsight: what decision of yours would you change in the past if given a second chance? Looking back over your entire MMO career, whether it spans a couple months or decades, what would be the one decision you'd make differently if you somehow go back in time? Would it be to slap your hand away from the keyboard as you went to sign up for a lifetime sub for Hellgate London? Would you choose to subscribe to a different MMO than the one you ended up spending years of your life playing? Maybe it would be a small change, such as starting a good friendship earlier, or investing heavily in Activision and Blizzard. One change. One decision done different. What would it be?
MapleStory adds two new levels: Neo City and Kerning Square
If you thought that MapleStory was all about livin' in the here and now, then you can just forget it. MapleStory's looking towards the future because they have a new toy to play with -- a portal through time! Oh, and a shopping mall too, but the time portal is way cooler. That's not one, but two new areas to enjoy! Maplers can now go back to the future (Flux Capacitor not included) to Neo City and help the new NPC Andy save Maple World from becoming a dark wasteland. By jumping back and forth through time, players can help alter history to make sure the Maple World doesn't fall apart at the seams! But, if time travel isn't for you, then you can go shopping in Kerning Square! Oh, just make sure not to get your face rocked off by a spirit of music, or fall victim to the home appliances that have taken on a life of their own. Ok... maybe the mall isn't any safer than time travel. Either way, there are loot rewards at the end of both areas that players will certainly want to get their hands on. If you want a visual look into the two new zones, however, just check after the break! We have two teaser trailers just waiting for you! Plus, we have patch notes. Everybody loves patch notes.
Breakfast Topic: Fun with time travel
I was inspired by the time travel talk from last Friday's The Queue. If you were able to kill Arthas while doing the Culling of Stratholme; you would prevent him from becoming The Lich King, but would cause a much faster spread of the plague. It reminded me of this great piece of short fiction, where going back in time to kill Hitler prevents time travel from becoming possible and is therefore strictly forbidden. I'd like to go back in time and help Mankrik's Wife escape her violent and lonely death. Do we really need another reason to slaughter those nasty boar humanoids? Besides, I bet she had some really great quests that we missed out on. If you could go back in WoW time and change something, what would it be? What do you think the ramifications of your change would be?
Time-traveling RTS Achron now playable, available for pre-order
Indie developer Hazardous Software has announced that you can now preorder its still-in-development time-bending RTS, Achron, on its website. "Pre-order" in this case means something a little different than usual: By giving Hazardous $29.99 now, you'll get access to the game's current alpha version, which includes five single-player levels. According to the release calendar, you'll get access to the rest of the game later this year, with a multiplayer beta in February, a level editor around April and a full game release a year from now in January 2011. We spoke with the developer's rep, who tells us that it's hoping to stick to the release calendar like glue -- he even says the dates there are slightly "conservative." Dear readers of this post in 2011: If time travel does exist in the future, could you maybe come back here to the past and tell us if this complicated little game is any good?
