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Video App Demo: Cloud Assass.in
If you ever played the game "assassin" in school, where you go around pretending to kill human targets, you're familiar with Cloud Assass.in, a new game for iOS coming soon. We got a quick look at the game at WWDC, so check out the demo below. Right now, the game is still in private beta. if(typeof AOLVP_cfg==='undefined')AOLVP_cfg=[];AOLVP_cfg.push({id:'AOLVP_1009391837001','codever':0.1, 'autoload':false, 'autoplay':false, 'playerid':'61371448001', 'videoid':'1009391837001', 'width':480, 'height':270, 'stillurl':'http://pdl.stream.aol.com/pdlext/aol/brightcove/studionow/p/24ada290d9f55/r/36fababd97328/al/190852/poster-10.jpg', 'playertype':'inline','videotitle':'TUAW - App Demo - Cloud Assass.in','videolink':'#'});
The Game Archaeologist jacks into The Matrix Online: Jamming with Ben 'Rarebit' Chamberlain
When we started into The Matrix Online month last week on The Game Archaeologist, one of the comments caught my eye. Massively reader stealthrider wrote: Please, please do a tribute to Rarebit. MxO was his baby, and no one took its death worse than he. He did everything for that game, much of it single-handedly. Everything from playing the canon characters and co-writing the story to fixing hundreds of bugs and even creating a new zone from scratch. Not to mention developing and implementing the story missions, new items, the RP item vendors, and pretty much everything else in MxO's final couple of years. He even implemented and moderated a player-created minigame as part of the official story. He retired from game development in the months before MxO's shutdown. He was that dedicated to this game that he couldn't work on anything else afterward. He's a god among developers, and he is as sorely missed as the game itself. I think this sums up how many Matrix Online vets feel about Ben "Rarebit" Chamberlain. So instead of a mere tribute, we drove the MassivelyMobile over to Chamberlain's house (read: send a polite email request), and he graciously said he'd be glad to reminisce with us. So hit that jump to find out the last word on MxO from the dev who held it together!
Enter at Your Own Rift: Zero-sum game
Ever since I started following RIFT, I've been entranced by the wide-open -- but not limitless -- class system. After all, the virtual world and everything populating it is only half the game; the other half resides in the avatar that sticks with you while you explore it all. Many MMOs have interesting ways of letting you build and grow your character, but sooner or later they come to a point where there's little more to be done other than incrementally increasing your stats by gaining better gear. Not so with RIFT, as even a level 50 can drop a few coins to shape a completely new build from scratch. No longer are we bound to a rigidly defined creation; we are free to experiment, tinker, and try out these roles to our hearts' content. With RIFT's soul system, there are a few ground rules that everyone learns early in the game. You can have up to three souls in your archetype active at any one time; you can only spend as many points in a build as you have in levels (such as 10 points at level 10); and you'll end up with 66 points at level 50, which means that you'll at least dabble in a second soul tree with every build. And while you can certainly spread soul points across all three trees, today I wanted to look at the benefits of a zero-point soul, the "third wheel," if you will, of builds.
Guild Wars 2 designers discuss the last three Guild Wars 2 professions
Are the Mesmer and Assassin returning to Guild Wars 2 or not? Speculation on these two professions has been ongoing and enthusiastic among Guild Wars fans, and designers Eric Flannum and Jon Peters added a hefty dose of fuel to the fire in their interview with Eurogamer today. The two didn't offer a definitive answer on these two classes but hinted that the Mesmer profession might not be returning exactly as we know it. Jon Peters commented that "people who enjoy that playstyle will be happy," but didn't offer further clarification. Eric Flannum did confirm that we have one more light armor class and two more medium armor classes -- what those are remain to be seen, hopefully very soon. Check out the full interview at Eurogamer.
Encrypted Text: Rogue roles in PvP
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Encrypted Text for assassination, combat and subtlety rogues. Chase Christian will be your guide to the world of shadows every Wednesday. Feel free to email me with any questions! The rogue is the most feared class in player vs. player combat. While other classes may have had their 15 minutes of fame at the top, the rogue has been perennially powerful. In WoW, we were so hated that an entire video series was dedicated to how overpowered we must've been. In The Burning Crusade, the legendary Warglaive combo made us infamous in arena play. Death knights did dominate in the early stages of Wrath, but rogues came back strong throughout the patches. Cataclysm was the first time that I ever worried about the survival of the class in PvP. With health pools skyrocketing again and the much-maligned stunlock nerfed, it was obvious that fights were going to last longer than ever. Our energy system enables us to keep up offensively for an indefinite period of time, but our defenses typically gave out once our cooldowns had been consumed. Figuring out a way to stay alive throughout prolonged combat was going to be the key to success.
Encrypted Text: One last look at the rogue of Azeroth past
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Encrypted Text for assassination, combat and subtlety rogues. Chase Christian will be your guide to the world of shadows every Wednesday. Today, we look back on the great kills of the past. With The Shattering's complete ruination of the planet, Azeroth has been transformed forever. Entire zones have been uprooted, flooded, and even broken in half. Deathwing's ascent to the mortal realm has left our world with several battle scars. Thrall and the shaman are doing trying their hardest to contain the damage, but the elemental planes are bleeding through. Insert some bad pun using the word Cataclysm here. Rogues have been sneaking through Azeroth for eons. Mages weren't around until a race discovered magic, and priests couldn't heal anyone until they discovered the Light. The art of stealth has been around for as long as there have been shadows to hide in. We've walked a million miles without ever leaving a footprint and killed a million foes whose bodies were never found. As we watch the Azeroth we've known and loved disintegrate around us, I can't help but remember our history.
Forsaken World's assassin slices and dices
"By the time you see one," Perfect World Entertainment promises, "it's already too late." Of course when you do see one of Forsaken World's assassins, your last thought may be, "Where are all your clothes, girl?" The assassin is the focus of Forsaken World's latest class spotlight, and if you're thinking "rogue" right now, you're not too far off the mark. This class, playable only by Human and Kindred characters, certainly seems to embody many of the typical qualities of a MMO rogue, from dual-wielding to stealth attacks to working off a combo points system. However, they do get a few interesting abilities, such as being able to run down fleeing opponents with as much mercy as you might expect from an assassin. The class spotlight also lists a few of the assassin's skills-in-progress, which include a brief increase to run speed, the ability to enter and remain in stealth even while in combat, and transferring a slow effect from yourself to your enemy. You can read the full rundown over at Forsaken World.
Gamescom 2010: BioWare reveals 10 new advanced classes for TOR
We've known for a while now that Star Wars: The Old Republic is planning to offer players two different specializations for each class, but up until now we've only heard of a couple of them. Today at Gamescom, however, BioWare unloaded the names and loose descriptions of ten advanced classes. The best part? No Bothans died for this information. Darth Hater reports that imperial agent characters will have the choice between specializing as snipers (long-range DPS) or operatives (who use stealth and short-range weapons to get up close and personal). If a bounty hunter is more to your liking, then the choice between a powertech and a mercenary should get your imagination racing. Over on the Republic side, troopers will sign up for either commando or vanguard training. Commandos are the tanking line, although we don't know much about vanguards yet. SWTOR-Station spied a Zabrak trooper at the BioWare booth, indicating another possible race for the class. Force-users are also in store for powerful upgrades. The villainous Sith inquisitors choose their path between a more Force-happy sorcerer or the twin lightsaber-using assassin. Their counterpart, the Jedi consular, has a similar decision to make: that of a shadow, who can use double-bladed lightsabers, or a wizard, who uses a single lightsaber but can heal. Are Star Wars fans ready for wizards and sorcerers in their MMO? Somehow, we think so.
One Shots: Assassin's perch
With so many headed to the rich new lands of Khitai in Age of Conan's recent expansion, Rise of the Godslayer, what's an assassin in the old world to do? Well, if you're Conumdrum from the Wiccana server, finding a good perch and waiting for an unsuspecting fool to wander past might seem like a good idea. He writes in: "A lone assassin sits high on the Black Temple in Khemi, watching over the empty streets as everyone heads to Khitai." We suspect he got tired of waiting and eventually joined everyone adventuring in the new lands. More people to kill there, after all! One Shots relies on great reader screenshot submissions, so if you're playing a game that doesn't get love as much as you might like, please take a moment and send us some of your favorite screenshots. Just email them in to oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll post them up here and give you the nod for sending them along! %Gallery-85937%
Soul of the Ultimate Nation sees the spreading Shadow
It might seem like everything is all fine and dandy in Soul of the Ultimate Nation, but there's a shadow on the horizon. More specifically, there's Shadow, the newest character added to the game. A combination of dark sorcery and assassin skills form Shadow's potent, solo-friendly skillset, something the game's development team had been hinting at since the beginning of the year. But that's hardly all that's new in the game, which has expanded the high-level content as well. Player characters over level 100 have access to nearly two hundred added quests, as well as new high-level areas in Helron's Castle. Neville's Swamp and Bronze Moon City, as well as the area conquest for the aforementioned castle, are all open. To cap off the experience, players have access to the fourth village in Soul of the Ultimate Nation, giving high-end players a spot where they can congregate with one another. Rather than forcing you to just read the text, however, we have both a set of preview images in our gallery, and two trailers for the update embedded past the cut. %Gallery-98558%
Celebrate the summer in Perfect World International
Grab your beach towels, slather on the sunscreen, and slip on a pair of shades, for the summer is upon us! Just because we love MMOs doesn't mean we can neglect healthy seasonal traditions. Perfect World International is excited about the summer as well, and is ushering in an ocean's worth of new content for players to dive into a month early. If a makeover is your thing this season, then you'll be thrilled to know that you can finally switch between the Demon and Sage paths with a new conversion feature. Maybe you want to see what it's like to be a good girl or a bad boy, for once. The neglected Tideborn players won't be left out of the beach party, either -- they can now acquire Demon and Sage skills, as well as a few other new skills for the Assassin and Psychic classes. Grab a few pals for a quick game of "Kill the Nien Beast," as the grumpy Gus returns for another swipe at Archosaur. This Public Quest was so popular during the spring that it just had to come back for round two. Finally, for the remainder of the month of May, catch a wave at the Double XP Event -- hang ten with double XP, double Spirit and double items!
Digital Storm tempts with 4.4GHz Black|OPS Assassin gaming desktop
Not down with piecing together a gaming rig for yourself, eh? We'll forgive you... this time. Thankfully for you, Digital Storm forgives eternally in situations such as this, with the pre-fab PC builder today cranking out one of its most beastly rigs to date. The Black | OPS Assassin is hailed as the planet's "most advanced vertically cooled PC," boasting an Intel Core i7-930 that's factory overclocked to 4.4GHz. Other specs include 6GB of DDR3 RAM, an EVGA X58 motherboard, 750 watt power supply, Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) and your choice of an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 (1.2GB), ATI Radeon HD 5870 (1GB) or GeForce GTX 480 (1.5GB). Go on, wade over and start customizing -- that $2,387 base price won't sting too badly.
The Anvil of Crom: Class selection guide
Welcome, my barbaric friends, to The Anvil of Crom. Last week we kicked around the difficult dilemma of server selections for my return to Age of Conan, and with that out of the way we can delve into some of the class choices available in Funcom's version of Hyboria. Given that I'm currently playing two rangers (one on Wiccana, one on Cimmeria), this column will ultimately focus heavily on those experiences. I'll also toss in the occasional comment on assassins (my launch day character and now an alt) as well as how my rangers fare against all twelve classes. Age of Conan is a unique title in many ways, but none are more readily apparent than the melee combat system and the newish take on traditional MMORPG class roles. If you're new to the game or newly returned, chances are you're having a bit of a time deciding which class is right for you. If you pick one based on prior genre experience, you may find some surprises in store. Hit the link below for some basic class breakdowns as well as my reasons for going ranger. Page 2 of 3 >>
Ask a Faction Leader: Master Mathias Shaw
WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak with major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we're letting you, the reader, Ask a Faction Leader! We recently spoke to Sylvanas Windrunner, Banshee Queen of the forsaken, and she shed light on several key issues, including undieting, hunter training, building this city, and bouncing idly. In this installment of Ask a Faction Leader, we'll be sitting with Master Mathias Shaw, leader of Stormwind's SI:7, covert agents of the crown. Our first reader question... Hello Mathias, Can you describe the feeling you got when you found out that you couldn't beat your granny? Verenor, Warlock - Defias Brotherhood Mathias responds: Gahaha, that's what I like to see! Pullin' no punches, right from the get-go. Hard-hittin' questions.
Angels Online expansion introduces new class
Angels Online, the free-to-play MMO from IGG.com, has released its latest expansion and with it a new class for players to enjoy. The Assassin Alliance in Eden has been in hiding, but with the new expansion comes the Floating Island, the place that appears to have served as a shelter for the alliance. With its appearance, the Assassins are pushed into the spotlight and have become an available player class: "With the Evil Lyceum gaining in power, the fate of the holy land in danger, the Assassin Alliance was forced to come out of hiding and confront the rising power of evil." The assassin's strengths, weaknesses, and attributes are going to be familiar to most MMO players, so they'll be a welcome addition to the game. Assassins in Angels Online are quick, sneaky, and deadly with a pair of daggers. They enjoy some pretty devastating class-specific skills such as "Shadow Blade", "Avatar" and "Assault", as well as the highest agility in the game and the ability to enhance their weapons with debuffs. More information on the new class is available at Angels Online.
Perfect World International gets a brand new expansion pack, "Rising Tide"
If you're a Perfect World International player, then it's time to visit the seas and flirt with mermaids! The game has recently unveiled their next expansion, Rising Tide, and it's set to unlock the mysteries of the depths. But who needs mystery when you're getting a brand new race and public quests?As the seas of the game have become corrupted by dark forces, the remaining members of the newest player race, the Tideborn, have turned to the land to request assistance in their fight. Tideborn players will find themselves accessing two new classes -- the Assassin and the Psychic -- to utilize in their fight against the darkness. (Yes, we hear you snickering, Dead Alewives fans.)
A retrospective of Aion's first month (part 2)
Please see this post by Kyle Horner and this one by Seraphina Brennan for their Aion impressions. Keep an eye out for future Aion content in their columns as well. I don't usually go for the style of graphics present in Aion but I've been pleasantly surprised so far.
Aion Abyss rankings show assassins like it on top (Korean)
We stumbled upon this interesting Aion chart that shows off the current Abyss rankings on the top five Korean servers. There are a few things you should know before drawing any absolute conclusions. First, the list only ranks players by their total Abyss Points (AP) and doesn't factor in many of the variables associated with AP gain (e.g., solo, group, PvE, PvP, exploit, etc.). Also, it doesn't necessarily reflect class imbalance issues (power or population), but we're sure that's the conclusion most people will jump to.After tallying up the class numbers, you can see that Assassins seem to be dominating the Abyss rankings, while Spiritmasters are at the bottom. Of the top 100, 48 are Assassins and 2 are Spiritmasters. With three classes tied for second and a few others not far behind, at least that seems quite balanced in terms of class spread. Exploitation is also mentioned in this thread and there appears to be one blatant case of it in the rankings (i.e., the level 30 Ranger with the top rank for his server). PvP games inevitably result in lists like this and it will be interesting to see how things pan out on the North American servers when Aion launches later this month. Want to know more about Aion? NCsoft invites you into the world of Atreia where the Elyos and the Asmodians fight each other and the evil Balaur for control of the shattered planet. Check out out all our coverage of this highly anticipated MMO!
Guild Wars' August update targets underpowered skills
While there wasn't a proper skills update last month in Guild Wars, the one prior to that did a lot to improve underpowered skills for the Ritualist and Paragon professions. For August's update, which is now live, the Arenanet dev team opted to continue their assault on weak abilities. Some of the more significant changes made were: Assassins have had their area-of-effect damage options increased Improvements were made to Rangers pets (for PvE only) Dervishes had their survivability improved somewhat The Elementalists Air Magic line was made more useful for PvE, and Earth Magic was given more offense options for PvP Check out the latest Guild Wars Developer Update to get all the details on August's PvE and PvP balances, or see the patch notes in their entirety here.
What are SWTOR's three final classes? part 2
Also, unlike the blaster-for-hire that is a Bounty Hunter, this class would be a loyal member of the Sith Empire, meaning they would know when and how to show discretion. This hypothetical Sith "Agent" class would answer directly to Sith Empire superior officers. Finally, an agent/assassin class offers the opportunity for BioWare to supply frothing HK-47 fans with the ability to play a hunter killer droid.
