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City of Titans gives a cab's-eye view of the city
Superhero games aren't just about having fantastic powers; they're about the space you live in. Cities have characters all of their own; Metropolis is all gleaming idealism, Marvel's New York is like an enlarged version of the real New York, and Gotham City is approximately 85% gargoyles by volume. So it's important for City of Titans fans to know what Titan City is like before they start playing. And who better to explain the city than your average Titan City cab driver? As it turns out, pretty much every joke you can think of about superhuman battles has already been made. In a city filled with heroes, you know that every so often there's going to be a villain knocked through your office, and a support structure exists for dealing with just that eventuality. Read the full Kickstarter update for more details on how the game world works and how people can keep living in a city where you occasionally find a portal to nether dimensions opening right above your favorite Thai restaurant.
WildStar implores Dominion citizens to go space-west in a new arkship
Do you feel the lure of the frontier? WildStar's Dominion certainly hopes you do. But as a citizen of the most powerful organization in the known galaxy, you won't be heading out into the frontier with nothing more than a spacesuit and a poorly written star chart. No, you'll be cruising to Nexus in the finest vessel ever built by the Dominion shipyards, the arkship Destiny! Assuming you pass the tests to be sent out there in the first place. The Dominion can't just send the rabble, after all. The latest installment of WildStar Wednesday details the luxurious amenities in all their glory, ranging from VIP lounges and ample recreational space to training simulations and a fully functional church. Those selected for the journey will be given every opportunity to excel once they touch down on the planet's surface, with experienced travelers given the option of bypassing most of the tutorial experience for a trip straight to Nexus. Take a look at the full rundown to get a better idea of how the Dominion travels in style, which will likely be contrasted by the Exiles arriving in a spacesuit with a poorly written star chart.
Storyboard: Signing up for the team
Major organizations in a game's lore are kind of a big deal to the characters living in those games. They represent something important, after all, either in terms of intent or power. So why doesn't your character sign up with the organization of his choice and start working for it instead of just alongside it? What do you mean that there's no mechanical way to fully model that? Come on. Sure, that's a bit of a problem, but if there's one thing you've taken away from my columns other than the word "verisimilitude," it's that no problem is insurmountable. Fortunately, signing on with your in-game organization of choice isn't all that problematic, even if there isn't an actual dotted line to sign for membership. So let's talk about signing up with your local recruitment office for fame, fortune, and the occasional bit of character motivation that you can't massage in any other way.
The Nexus Telegraph: Examining the Mechari of WildStar
Who's afraid of the big bad Mechari? As it turns out, a lot of people. Possibly for good reason. Of all the races in WildStar, the Mechari represent the biggest question mark. Part of that is by design; when you have a race of sapient machines controlling the information flow of an entire empire, you aren't supposed to know everything there is to be known about them. But there are a lot of questions that pose themselves based on what we do know. Starting with the fact that they don't exactly make sense. I've touched on this briefly before, but the fact is that the stated purpose of the Mechari is at odds with what we know of their creation and behavior. They're intelligence gatherers that don't actually have obvious tools for that role. They're left in the dark in ways that don't make sense, and they are altogether a race of contradictions if you accept everything at face value.
The Mog Log: After the story of Final Fantasy XIV
First of all, putting this front and center: there are spoilers aplenty in the article past the cut. You have been warned, and will be warned again. I wrapped up the main story of Final Fantasy XIV a little while ago, got to see the final cutscenes that last for about a month, and was rewarded with a nice new mount for my trouble. I also got some big metaplot advancement and access to the endgame dungeons that I'll be running until we get more of them, so that was nice. But today I don't want to talk about how Amdapor Keep and Castrum Meridianum do an excellent job of being an endgame without being one, I want to talk about the actual story as a whole. Including the final revelations, the pacing of the plot, and where the game has to go from here. Again, spoilers past the cut. If you have not beaten the main story and want it to remain a secret, please, don't read past this point.
Aura Kingdom offers its first installment of story
Let's face it, every MMO's lore is fundamentally an explanation for why there's something to kill and what you hope to accomplish by killing it. But even in the games that only need the thinnest veneer of a plot anyway, there's still some lore, and someone's going to be happy to learn about it. Aura Kingdom is aiming at having a bit more than an excuse plot, evidenced by the fact that a large piece of lore has just been placed up on the main site prior to the game's beta test commencing. The crux of the game's history hinges around the Cube of Gaia, an immensely powerful artifact that was discovered roughly 1,000 years prior to the game's present. This first bit of lore covers the first empire to control the Cube, with a normadic warchief rising to worldwide domination through careful use of the Cube's power. Take a look at the lore, and if it appeals, go ahead and sign up for beta while you're there.
The Nexus Telegraph: Still looking forward to WildStar
One of the analogies I keep coming back to is that choosing an MMO is a lot like being in a long-term relationship. That's also true of sticking with one for the long term. Some weeks, your MMO of choice just seems to do everything wrong, and sometimes you go through a period of time when you're just not sure if the relationship works any longer. WildStar and I are in a bit of a long-distance relationship at the moment, what with me steadfastly existing in the present and her not technically having launched just yet. And sometimes she finds ways to make me upset, with clueless design or business decisions that leave me wondering what in the hell went on in the background. But then there are things that get me excited, things that remind me of why I've been waiting for this game for a while. So let's talk about some of the stuff that still gets me excited.
Black Gold unveils the Kosh race
The races of Black Gold are getting plenty of attention from Snail Games recently, with three of the races already unveiled. Today marks the fourth race reveal with a video and an article dedicated to the felinoid Kosh, direct descendents of the Sun God (according to their own propaganda, anyway). These former conquerors have joined the Erlandir Union to help defend the eponymous Black Gold, which they consider holy and unsuitable for use in technology. Kosh characters can be Demon Hunters, Elementalists, or Alchemists, all aligned with the race's rather mystical and contemplative nature. As a whole they're known to be serious and aloof, filling the game's need for something of an elven race without ever actually hitting the "elf" stereotype. But you don't have to take our word for it; you can take a look at the reveal trailer past the break, or read the full lore article for a bit more history.
Camelot Unchained reveals the HelBound class
Want to meet a new Camelot Unchained class that's part of the Vikings and can totally sear your soul if you so much as smile strangely at it? Sure you do! Mark Jacobs took the opportunity today to share some early details, lore, and concept art for the HelBound, a healer class that revolves around the theme of duality. "Becoming a HelBound means pain and pleasure, power and weakness for we are as our mother, creatures of a dual nature," the backstory intones. The HelBound is given the choice of a HelMark that will distinguish the character as either a healer or a death-dealing fighter. The class has cool half-masks that channel special effects due to an ancestor hopping along for the ride. According to Jacobs, the HelBound are "quite intriguing and just a wee bit dark."
World of Warcraft reveals the next Warchief of the Horde
If you have even a peripheral interest in World of Warcraft, you've caught wind of the fact that Garrosh Hellscream has not been a very good leader of the Horde. He's managed it so badly that he's the final boss of the expansion for both factions, which is not the sign of a capable leader. And his ultimate defeat means it's time for a new Warchief to step forward... a leader named... Basic campfire? You didn't think we were going to spoil this right here on the front page, did you? If you're still playing the game and want to see the end on your own, that's fine. If you would rather just find out the answer now, though, you can find the answer buried within our sister site WoW Insider's considerate-of-spoiler-warnings post right over here. (It's actually a Sickly Gazelle riding on a Spectral Tiger mount, but that's just a placeholder model.)
The Nexus Telegraph: WildStar Comix
I am a really big fan of comics. If this comes as a shock, possibly one that invites shock and horror, I apologize. But I love comics. We have bookshelves filled with comics in my house, I spend a lot of my free time reading comics, and I know a fair bit about comics. Not even close to everything, though, which is half the fun of comics in general. There's always more to learn, always something great that you've never heard of. The point I'm slowly getting to here is that I was pretty excited when WildStar started up a comic. I think this is something that more games should do because comics lend themselves to MMOs pretty naturally. So what's good, what's mediocre, and what's bad in the comics that are running thus far? Even with just two weeks of comics I've already formed some pretty strong opinions about this stuff.
The Daily Grind: Are there MMOs you'd like more if the setting were different?
EverQuest Next hadn't been on my radar before the big reveal, but at this point it's hard to not be on board. The game looks gorgeous and has a lot of really interesting ideas underpinning its development, and I find myself eager to find out more as development progresses. But despite that enthusiasm, I really wish it weren't another fantasy game. The market is full of fantasy games. Obviously it couldn't be a science fiction game within the franchise, but still, I find myself wishing that they'd taken all of these principles and applied them to a more interesting setting on a whole. Maybe you're in the opposite camp, though. Maybe you'd be more enthusiastic about WildStar if it were a fantasy game. Perhaps you'd prefer The Secret World in a steampunk setting. Are there games you'd like more if the setting were different? Or are you happy with things just the way they are? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Storyboard: Brother from the same mother
An awful lot of characters seem to be only-children. In some countries this is pretty normal, but it's certainly not normal where I'm living. Pretty much all of my friends and contemporaries have at least one sibling. So it seems a bit odd that your roleplaying characters don't have any fellow family members to talk to. The realistic reason, of course, is that most of us don't spend a whole lot of time thinking about those siblings. And in some cases it's entirely reasonable to say that your character might not know her several half-siblings. But in the interests of verisimilitude, it's worth thinking about this, even if you never want siblings to become a major focus of roleplaying. You can come at this topic from two angles. You can talk about how to handle siblings, or you can talk about the impact of siblings. For this column, I'm going to focus on the former. What are the options for including your character's siblings?
The Mog Log: You got your Final Fantasy XIII in my Final Fantasy XIV
If there was any doubt about it before, it's a known fact now: Lightning of Final Fantasy XIII will be showing up in Final Fantasy XIV, and players can go so far as to earn a copy of her outfit to wear out and around Eorzea. Odds are pretty much absolute that it will be purely cosmetic, but that doesn't make it any less unusual. Aside from ruffling the feathers of anyone who particularly dislikes Lightning, the inclusion opens up the weird snarl of non-continuity along the entirety of the franchise. I like Lightning, but this certainly does feel unusual. Even without seeing the quest, I have plenty of questions about how the games tie together, what the possible explanation could be, and how this will affect both worlds (as Naoki Yoshida has said specifically that this is Lightning herself, not someone who looks and acts as she does). So let's talk about crossovers, let's talk about Final Fantasy XIV's existing fanservice, and let's ask ourselves if this is the straw that breaks the camel's back. Metaphorically. I don't think there are camels in Eorzea.
Support your candidate in Guild Wars 2's Cutthroat Politics
It's election time in Tyria, and the most important part of political discourse has already gripped fans of Guild Wars 2, as social media lights up with threads supporting one candidate and denigrating the other. But this election will not be won on the basis of whether Ellen Kiel or Evon Gnashblade get more upvotes on Reddit; it will come down to which candidate gets more adventurers to vote in-game. And as it turns out, there are a lot of ways to make sure your vote counts again and again. Players will receive one Support Token automatically and can acquire more through dungeons, PvP, and several special bits of content directly tied to the event, including the new Candidate Trials. Turning in a Support Token for one candidate or the other rewards you with a Representation Button, which counts toward several achievements. So get out there to be counted and vote for your preferred candidate with good old-fashioned adventuring.
The Nexus Telegraph: WildStar's dirty little secret races
I'm of two minds about the last two races in WildStar. And I'll be honest, the first mind is kind of bored because those of us with sharp eyes had already figured most of this out. Most of us might not have been sure of the names, to be fair. But the core concepts are fairly close to what most of us expected, with both races playing against type -- cute and fuzzy for the Dominion, creepy and leering for the Exiles. I even speculated that the last race of the Exiles would be a race that focused upon getting dirty work done when it needed to be done, and sure enough, what did we get? That being said, both of these races are pulled off with a style and panache that I should have expected but didn't. So even if I could have guessed that these were the practical upshots of the race grid, I hadn't counted on them being this nifty.
Storyboard: Grieving in character
Grief is not the same as being sad. Being sad is something I've discussed before, and it's a temporary emotional state. Grief is a filter, something that colors your whole perception and pushes you into a holding pattern of regret and sorrow. Real grief colors even things you do that make you happy so that even as you're smiling and laughing there's a pall over what you do. It's the way you feel when you lose a parent. Or a lover. Or a nation. Or almost anything profoundly important that you can lose, that you weren't ready to lose, that you don't know how to exist without. The point is that it's a very important human emotion, one that is going to come up in roleplaying. But it's also a problematic one because you have to convey what is in large part an internal sensation externally. So how do you get the sense of grief across without just making your character into a constant font of moping?
Star Wars: The Old Republic is looking for corporate troubleshooters on the test server
Sometimes, being a corporate troubleshooter means that your job is identifying weak points in a company and strengthening infrastructure. Other times, such as in the Star Wars: The Old Republic update available on the test server, it means that your job is shooting trouble. Seems that Czerka Corporation has sort of lost control of an important test moon, and that means that player characters will need to visit a new daily hub as well as two new level 55 Flashpoints. These Flashpoints aren't the usual fare; they feature both a Hard Mode and a Story Mode, with the latter allowing any combination of roles to clear the flashpoint for shorter queue times and a more relaxed experience. You've also got two new reputations to explore, one for the daily hub and one for the upcoming Bounty Broker event. If you've done all there is to do on Makeb, the patch means you'll have plenty more to do soon. There's also a new Companions 101 piece on Corso Riggs, but really, a new patch is a bit more interesting.
Guild Wars 2 sheds a little more light on the Aetherblade Pirates
There's a new group of pirates in Tyria, and unlike the five or six pirate factions already around, these folks don't bother messing around with water. Guild Wars 2's Aetherblade Pirates come from the air, and they're the subject of intense speculation from the Lionsguard. The lore of the group isn't exactly revealed in the latest blog entry, but it should give anyone anxious for more pirate details some interesting food for thought. According to the official Lionsguard report, the Aetherblade Pirates do not appear to associate with any existing pirate groups and refuse to give any details regarding their leadership. There's also reason to believe that the pirates are not actually responsible for the maintenance of their own ships, as those captured display no real knowledge of the working mechanisms behind these vessels. So it may be that they're simply a marauding force working at the behest of a more dangerous power, which may be an unpleasant thought indeed for Tyrian residents.
Firefall's final beta milestone and live action trailer [Updated]
The last closed beta milestone for Firefall is live now will be live this Thursday, June 27th, and it's a big one. Closed beta testers can explore the new e-sports-styled PvP game Jetball while taking part in the game's first story-based episode, Blackwater Anomaly. And this is meant as a big thing, big enough that there's even a live-action trailer (starring Tybee Diskin, whom you might recognize from the Nuka Break Fallout fan film) past the cut to help get potential players psyched about just what might be going on. Designed for five-person squads, Blackwater Anomaly sends players out into the storm to examine the eponymous anomaly at Blackwater Marsh, leading to a closer examination of why the Chosen have arrived and what motivates the attack on humanity. If you're intrigued and want to get in on the action before the start of open beta on July 9th, the Founder's Packs will still be available through July 8th. Everyone already in the beta can start enjoying this new content immediately. [Update: Red 5 has contacted us to let us know it has moved the milestone date from today to Thursday.] [Source: Red 5 Studios press release]
