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Inferno Legend begins closed beta on December 10th
Chinese developer Gamebox announced that its upcoming "reverse Diablo" MMO Inferno Legend will be going into closed beta testing on December 10th. The company said that it was inspired by the movie Avatar in the creation of Inferno Legend's air island world. Players will explore these islands brick by hexagonal brick, finding out what's on each when they step on them. The unpredictability that each brick brings, from a battle event to a treasure boon, is what Gearbox hopes will intrigue players. Inferno Legend has five classes: Vampire, Cyclops, Ghost Knight, Fairy, and Mummy. Battles take their visual cues from the comic books, and there's a demon summoning system that gives alternate skills and buffs for players foolish enough to toy with the underworld. You can check out the preview video of Inferno Legend after the break. [Source: Gamebox press release]
Path of Exile going strong a month after launch
Path of Exile is strutting its stuff a month after its official launch, boasting a huge community, a new patch, and strong sales of its new supporter packs. Grinding Gear Games announced that Path of Exile has topped four million registered users and sees over 250,000 players every day. Last Wednesday's 1.0.2 patch was the first post-launch update for the game, containing new items, recipes, achievements, and various fixes and balance tweaks. The studio sold nearly 5,000 purchases of its supporter pack bundles, which range from $50 to $900, over the Thanksgiving weekend. Grinding Gear says that these purchases "have funded a significant portion of the game's development." [Source: Grinding Gear press release]
Free for All: MMORPGs for your new console
Consoles and MMOs do not have the stand-offish relationship that they used to have. In fact, there are so many different MMOs to choose from on consoles that it's seriously tempting to pick up one of the new ones -- the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 -- even though I wasn't planning on it for a long, long time. I enjoy using a controller with MMOs so much that I plan on covering the subject more in the future. So let's get to the list of MMOs that are currently on consoles or that will be coming out on consoles in the near(ish) future. Massively's own Mike Foster put together a fantastic list last summer, but I thought I would update and pass it on. After all, the new consoles are officially here... so be sure to reference the list when you need a new MMO to play on your shiny new console!
Lightning strikes in Path of Exile's update 1.0.2
Just one look at Path of Exile's newest content update preview video from Grinding Gear Games and you know that the upcoming patch sizzles -- literally. Update 1.0.2 includes the new skill Stormcall which allows players to call lightning down upon multiple or single targets. Along with a new skill, the patch is introducing five more unique items (including Wings of Entropy, a unique two-handed sundering ax that acts like duel-wielded axes) and some map mod changes. Players can also buy new items from the store, such as a lightning bat pet and -- for one week only -- special Pilgrim's hats to celebrate Thanksgiving. Content update 1.0.2 releases this Wednesday, but you can get a peek at it in the video below. More information on the patch will be posted on the official site soon.
Azeroth and beyond: Nine years of World of Warcraft
In 1999, Blizzard Entertainment was well on its way to becoming something of a titan in the PC gaming space. Riding high on hits like Diablo, Warcraft II, and the barely-a-year-old StarCraft, Blizzard had established itself as a purveyor of quirky, well-made, and entertaining games mostly of the RTS variety. However, something else was brewing behind closed doors at Blizzard's Irvine campus. While sequels to Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo were all in development (and hotly anticipated), the company had also quietly started work on a brand-new massively-multiplayer online game set in one of the studio's existing game universes. That game, of course, was World of Warcraft. And nine years ago tomorrow, it completely changed the face of MMO gaming.
Blizzard to launch Diablo III's Reaper of Souls closed beta before the end of the year
Blizzard Entertainment's friends and family beta of Diablo III's Reaper of Souls expansion is officially underway with invites going out to, well, friends and family of Blizzard employees. However, Blizzard is extending the beta pool by about 3,000 players; this time around the company plans to send invites to a few "valued media contacts and key members of the Blizzard community" in addition to the normal employee keys. Invites are already going out, so keep an eye on your inbox if you feel as though you fit the description. If you don't, take solace in the fact that Blizzard has confirmed that closed beta proper will launch before year's end and that while invites will be limited, they will be sent to a wider range of Diablo players. The beta will include all expansion content minus the final boss. None of the betas appears to be protected by NDA, meaning streams, videos, screenshots, and spoilers will soon be available across the web.
Trion officially reveals Trove: Endless adventures through endless worlds
Even with its recent "regroup and reorganize" strategy, there's no doubt that Trion Worlds is an ambitious company that enjoys having its fingers in many pies. But what about that yummy voxel Minecraft pie? So tempting... so trendy... so full of antioxidants. Well, Trion's baking one of those up too, and it's called Trove. So what is Trove, exactly? It's something radically different for Trion, though it's plainly drawing upon lessons learned from the studio's other titles. Trove is a multiplayer universe of worlds where creation, destruction, and adventure go hand-in-hand. It's a sandbox, an RPG, a toolset, a public space, a private space, a free-to-play experience, and according to CEO Scott Hartsman, a passion. We spoke with Hartsman to get a handle on what Trove will bring to MMOs and how it's looking to differentiate itself from the rest of the pack. So take one last look at the cute bug above and prepare yourself for an endless adventure through endless worlds.
Diablo III's lead designer says offline mode was 'wrong', reaffirms online requirement
If you've been holding out hope that Blizzard would cave in and offer an offline mode on the PC for Diablo III with its Reaper of Souls expansion, don't hold your breath. A recent dev interview really put the kibosh on that idea: Lead designer Kevin Martens stated pretty clearly that dividing the community into online and offline groups is not now, nor will it be, in the cards. When asked about the offline mode in Diablo II, he pointed out that the community back then was very unhappy about that division and added: "That was the wrong choice to allow people to play offline, and we still stand by that. And we think Internet access is widespread. If someone has no Internet access, then yeah, Diablo III is not the game for them." In the interview, Martens and Art Director Christian Lichtner also talked about the direction of Diablo's III and the game's economy sans auction house -- notably, that stockpiling items before the change won't give much of an advantage because the post 2.0 patch economy will be full of new items that can be acquired only through play.
Diablo 3 PS4 won't feature Remote Play (but may in the future) [Update]
Though Blizzard would like to allow players to enjoy the upcoming PlayStation 4 version of Diablo 3 on their Sony-branded handhelds, the House That Warcraft Built sees the Vita's screen itself as reason to nix Remote Play functionality. At this weekend's Blizzcon event, Gamespot asked senior level designer Matthew Berger about the possibility of Remote Play, and were immediately shot down. "The Vita is an amazing piece of kit, but the screen is still smaller," stated Berger. "And when you look at - and also it has its own aspect ratio - and when you look at Diablo 3, there's a lot happening on-screen already. You get surrounded by your enemies, lots of effects flying off in every direction. The inventory can be pretty complicated to navigate sometimes when you have lots of items." Despite this, Berger says Blizzard is still considering the feature. "[Remote Play] would be a little bit more of stretch. It's kind of percolating in the back of our mind, but we don't really have any plans right now," he said. Corroborating the eventual possibility of Remote Play is senior console producer Julie Humpreys. "[Remote Play] is something we are looking into," Humphreys told CVG. "I would say we are in the earliest stages of looking at that. We want to make sure that it is readable and is a good user experience." Diablo 3 makes its PlayStation 4 debut at some point during 2014. Update: Earlier today, Gamespot again asked Berger about Remote Play, and were met with a decidedly different response. "As long as PS4 supports Remote Play, [Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls] will support it," Berger said. Update 2: Blizzard moved in to clear up confusion. The official Diablo Twitter account tweeted, ""Will Remote Play on the PS Vita be available for Diablo 3 Ultimate Edition on PS4?" The answer is yes, and it's awesome!" along with a photo of it in action.
Take a look at Diablo III running on the PlayStation 4
Have you enjoyed being able to play Diablo III on a console? Do you want to be able to get even more monster-stomping fun on what amounts to even more console? Are you ready to take to the comments to explain that a next-gen console is not, strictly speaking, more console? Do you just like watching footage of heavily armored knights making monsters explode? If any of the above applies to you, then yes, we've got the video for you past the cut. So what's the video? Diablo III's expansion running on the PlayStation 4 -- specifically, the Crusader class wading through monsters the way one might normally wade through knee-high mud and making various demons explode into bloody body parts. So pretty much exactly what you'd expect, only more so. If you don't fall into any of the categories listed above but still want to see that, well, good news; The break's right down there.
Video previews Wednesday's Path of Exile update 1.0.1
Players interested in Path of Exile's upcoming 1.0.1, which is hitting servers Wednesday, can get the scoop in the devs' latest update preview video. The clip highlights a sequel to the popular race mode Descent, changes in Purity, a new enhance support gem, and more. Also noted is that Season 5 will start this weekend. Additionally, PoE will be releasing seven bi-weekly content updates between now and the expansion in early March, 2014. Descent Champions, like Descent, is a special scenario separate from the storyline filled with challenging monsters. Unlike its predecessor, however, this version sports a choice in forks in the progression and a selection of unique items to pick from at the start the event. Purity has been changed so that it doesn't alter players' maximum resistances; instead players can utilize the new player purity aura gems for fire, ice, and lightning. You can get more details on all these changes (plus a spoiler for one of the five new uniques coming!) in the update video below.
BlizzCon 2013 in photographs
BlizzCon might be over, but pictures last forever, or at least until something happens to our data center. Don't get any ideas. Hey, where are you going with that tornado?! Enjoy our view of the con! Massively's on the ground in Anaheim during the weekend of November 8th, bringing you all the best news from BlizzCon 2013. Whether you're anticipating World of Warcraft's and Diablo III's next expansions or reveals from Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm, we aim to have it covered!
BlizzCon 2013: Diablo III's adventure mode, avenger kills detailed
At this year's BlizzCon, eager attendees learned that Blizzard is adding myriad new features to Diablo III's Reaper of Souls expansion; specifically, the PlayStation 4 version of Reaper of Souls will enable legendary item gifting. "Even though you and I are not adventuring together," explained level designer Matthew Berger to Polygon, "I can give you something and still make it feel like we're playing together." Reaper of Souls also features a new mechanic called Avenger Kills. In a nutshell, it allows for monsters who kill one player to teleport into the game of a player on the deceased's friends list. Whenever player two comes online, the NPC will appear via a special event. If the monster kills player two as well, the cycle continues. Whenever a player manages to slay the creature, the victor and the friend who spawned will get a piece of loot. Also at the con, Blizzard released more information about the game's adventure mode, and our sister site WoW Insider has a special look at the Reaper of Souls BlizzCon preview panel, at which the team addressed concerns over the post-Auction House economy, lag spikes, and the possibility of an offline mode. Massively's on the ground in Anaheim during the weekend of November 8th, bringing you all the best news from BlizzCon 2013. Whether you're anticipating World of Warcraft's and Diablo III's next expansions or reveals from Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm, we aim to have it covered!
Massively's BlizzCon 2013 liveblog: Opening ceremony and WoW presentation
BlizzCon 2013 is now underway, and we're expecting big news from the folks at Blizzard, like more details on the Diablo III Reaper of Souls expansion. There's also the first ever Innkeeper's Invitational for Hearthstone, the white-knuckle gameplay of the StarCraft 2 tournaments, and the Hollywood insanity of the upcoming World of Warcraft movie. Most MMO gamers, however, are anxiously waiting to hear about World of Warcraft's fifth expansion. Is it happening? Whom are we fighting? Where are we going? Are there any new classes and races? If you want to be among the first to know but didn't snag a ticket, real or virtual, then join us in the comments below as we blog about all the juiciest news -- live! And don't forget that the opening ceremonies are being streamed for free!
Diablo III introduces you to the Reaper of Souls monster mob
Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to meet your Reaper of Souls loot piñatas -- otherwise known as monsters. Blizzard gave its fans a first look at the creatures that will be giving players what for in Diablo III's upcoming expansion. The 10 creatures in the first look bestiary range from scary to faces only a mother could love. There's the eerie Death Maiden, the Predator-esque Executioner, the chunky Ghastly Seraph, and plenty more creations that crawled out of a few twisted devs' nightmares. These monsters will be inhabiting the expansion's main town of Westmarch, whether or not you decide to turn down any dark alleyways.
BlizzCon 2013: Voice actors to take the stage
BlizzCon will be hosting a voice actor stage with several panels over both days. Many of the voice actors from World of Warcraft, Diablo and Starcraft will be on hand to discuss their craft as well as sign autographs. Posters will be handed out to be autographed during the sessions in between the panels. Included on the Warcraft panel Friday between 3 and 4 p.m. PST will be the voices behind Chen Stormstout, Garrosh Hellscream, Jaina Proudmore and a few others. To see the schedule and all of the voice actors appearing, go to the original post. The stage will be setup between Hall A and B and is described as being attendee-only, so those watching on the Virtual Ticket will be out of luck.
Blizzard announces 2013 Pumpkin Carving Contest winners
The winners from this year's Pumpkin Carving Contest have been chosen and announced! Five winners were chosen to receive a copy of Diablo III: Book of Tyrael. In addition, another twenty pumpkins were chosen as Honorable Mentions and displayed on the site for all to see. The winners this year include a couple of stunning Diablo III entries as well as some World of Warcraft entries, including the gorgeous cloud serpent pumpkin we mentioned yesterday. All pumpkins are available for viewing on the official announcement of winners. Included among the honorable mentions are a pretty stunning version of the Ashes of A'lar, a gorgeous portrait of Sylvanas, an incredibly detailed picture of Diablo, and many more. Check out the gallery for some pretty awe-inspiring examples of pumpkin carving expertise, and congratulations to all the winners!
Ten things to love and hate about Path of Exile
Grinding Gear Games' Path of Exile officially launched last week after a long open beta. Like so many similar titles trailing in Blizzard's wake, it's a dungeon-crawly pseudo-MMO that skirts the boundary between sinking to "just another Diablo clone" and rising above the genre. Some journalists are praising it as Diablo II's rightful heir, while others are putting it aside in favor of their weatherbeaten copies of Titan Quest, which better satisfy their urge to click-click-click. The reality is usually somewhere in the middle of these extremes, but extremes are fun. So let's examine the top 10 things we love and hate about Path of Exile.
Blizzard unveils Diablo III's Reaper of Souls' Westmarch
Westmarch, once spoken of only in whispers, is one of the new settings of Diablo III's upcoming Reaper of Souls expansion. The city was once beautiful and vibrant, but the events of the Diablo series have left it with an unsettling aura and a dwindling population. Blizzard Entertainment today offered an up-close look at Westmarch's design and implementation on the official Diablo III blog, showing off concept maps, points of interest, and some of the city's real-life location inspirations. Westmarch pulls elements from "the fog-laden cobblestone streets of London in the 1800s" and features tightly packed buildings, winding alleyways, and grisly visual cues as to the city's failed attempts at mounting a defense. The Survivor's Enclave is the one bright spot in this dismal world, a place where Westmarch's few living inhabitants can find rest and safety from the evils of the outside world. Reaper of Souls is due in 2014, or as Blizzard likes to call it, SoonTM.
Diablo III dev diary delves into the history of Westmarch
Diablo III's upcoming Reaper of Souls expansion will take players to a number of new locales across the world of Sanctum, such as the kingdom of Westmarch, the subject of Blizzard's latest dev post on the game's official site. Long-time Diablo fans probably know Westmarch best as the home of the Knights of Westmarch, the order from which Diablo II's Paladin hails, but there is much more to the realm's deep lore. Westmarch's history is one -- as is expected in the Diablo universe -- steeped in blood and conquest. The kingdom was founded by the Zakarum zealot Rakkis after a crusade that drove him across the Twin Seas and over the bodies of legions of conquered foes, but there is a second, "secret" history to this place. Near Westmarch is a "sprawl of fetid marshes," littered with the ruins of an ancient Nephalem civilization said to hold the power to ward against angels and demons alike. It was to these ruins that the now-mortal Tyrael took the Black Soulstone, and it was there that the former archangel Malthael, at that point neither angel nor demon, stole the Black Soulstone from its hiding place. And that, of course, is where the tale of Reaper of Souls begins. If you're a lore junkie looking for all the details, check out the full post on Diablo III's official site.
