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Tribes: Ascend releases tomorrow, mass casualties predicted
We apologize for giving you only a few hours' notice to call your boss or parental unit and inform him or her that you'll be "sick" tomorrow, but any edge you can get for an early start to Tribes: Ascend is better than none. That's right, Hi-Rez Studios' frantic FPS is releasing first thing in the morning, and you're invited to join the fight. With jetpacks, skiing, and a strong lineage dating back to the original 1998 game, Tribes: Ascend has a lot going for it. The free-to-play title promises to bring back all of the frantic action that fans loved with a few new twists, such as a capture and hold game mode and the return of the classic map Raindance. Players will log in tomorrow to new social options as well and can test out unowned weapons in a special target practice area. Wondering if Tribes: Ascend is right for you? Check out Jef's Firing Line column in which he attempts to convince you that this will suck you in and keep you entertained for a long time to come. If you're antsy, you can play tonight, as the game is currently in open beta. You can watch a new dev diary featuring the Raindance map after the jump!
Buffs coming for League of Legends' Kayle, Teemo and more
It's been a long time coming, but a major buff patch is about to hit League of Legends. The patch that will introduce new champion Hecarim comes with a whole host of balance changes to other champions and gameplay mechanics. Kayle's Divine Blessing is being improved to provide a much bigger heal and haste buff at the cost of more mana, making her more a effective support or carry without imbalancing lane sustainability. Teemo is getting some much-needed buffs along with a major bug fix that should increase his damage output significantly. The bug was responsible for Teemo's damage output's dropping after level 6 or so and not scaling properly with attack speed. After talking to players and running some numbers, Riot Games discovered that offensive rune pages were always inferior to just stacking magic resistance. Flat magic resistance runes are being nerfed, while flat magic penetration and ability power runes are getting buffed. The biggest change coming in the patch is a tweak to the experience given out for killing enemy champions. To prevent games from quickly snowballing out of control, Riot is increasing the experience gained by killing players who out-level you and is decreasing the reward earned by killing lowbies. This should let losing teams get back in the game if they can win several teamfights. Skip past the cut to watch the full Hecarim patch preview video!
League of Legends IPL swings into Sin City
Las Vegas is welcoming League of Legends players with open arms as the best of the best compete in the next step of the Challenger Circuit: IPL 4. With $5 million on the line for the season, you can bet that League of Legends players are doing anything and everything they can to get a piece of that action. IPL 4 is taking place from today through Sunday at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Sin City. Over the weekend, eight teams will compete for rankings and a $50,000 pot. The challengers are Team Dignitas, EpikGamer, Counter Logic Gaming, Team Solomid, v8 eSports, Against All Authority, Monomatic eSports, and Curse Gaming. Riot Games says there are still IPL 4 tickets available for those who want to attend in person. For those who can't, there's always the official IPL YouTube channel for long-distance spectating.
Hi-Rez Studios offering exclusive Tribes and SMITE demos at PAX East
With the excitement and craziness of PAX East just a couple of days away, studios are clamoring for your attention with promises of candy and sweet, sweet previews. Hi-Rez Studios is no different; the company hopes that attendees will check out its booth for exclusive demos of its upcoming Tribes: Ascend and SMITE. Players who visit booth 962 can check out a new preview release build of Tribes: Ascend before the game launches formally later this month. The demo contains a new game mode, Capture & Hold, which is a fast-paced experience that requires the mastery of vehicles and teamwork. Players will also get to see the return of a classic 1998 Tribes map revamped for modern times: Raindance. Hi-Rez's other PAX East offering is its MOBA SMITE, which is in closed alpha testing. Here, attendees can choose from one of 15 deities and head out on to 5v5 battleground maps for serious smackdown. New to the public are six of these playable deities and the first look at the Fire Giant mob. [Source: Hi-Rez press release]
The Firing Line Exclusive: Tribes Ascend utility pack giveaway
Like Tribes: Ascend? Like the Soldier class? If you answered yes to those questions, Massively and The Firing Line have an exclusive giveaway that you're going to love. We've teamed up with Hi-Rez Studios to bring you the Soldier utility pack, which is an upgrade item that grants an additional grenade slot and additional health (don't worry, balance fans; your Soldier avatar will sacrifice a bit of his energy pool when the pack is equipped). How can I get my hands on this fine item, you ask? It's as easy as clicking on the giveaway button after the break. After you've secured your code, boot up your Tribes client and select "extras" from the in-game menu followed by "redeem promotion." Enter your code in the box and then click over to your Soldier class to swap out your new pack!
League of Legends talks nerfs and reveals Lulu, the Fae Sorceress
If you can't quite get your daily dose of adorableness with Teemo or Annie, you'll definitely want to pick up League of Legends' next champion, Lulu, the Fae Sorceress. Riot Games revealed Lulu this week with a stunning art spotlight and followed up with a full gameplay reveal and a patch preview video. Lulu is the first true support champion that's been added in quite some time, with abilities that shield and buff allies while slowing enemies. All of Lulu's abilities center around her adorable little faerie companion, Pix, who fires energy bolts at the targets of all her attacks and can be commanded to shield allies or follow enemies to grant vision. Lulu's introduction patch will be arriving with a whole host of balance changes and gameplay tweaks. Ramus will have his effectiveness as a rapidly ganking jungler nerfed with a reduction in his base damage and armour. Shaco's early-game ganking potential has been found to be a bit too strong, while his late game potential is lacking. He'll be rebalanced to make him scale better into the late game. Jax was dying far too easily in teamfights, so developers have swapped the damage and ability power from the active part of his ultimate for additional armour and magic resist. Lifesteal items are also on the chopping block, with the goal of making damage harder to regenerate in a lane. Skip past the cut to watch the full patch preview video in HD.
League of Legends retiring classic skins
Get your wallets out, summoners! Four classic League of Legends skins will be retired from the store as of Monday, March 12th. The skins in question are Emerald Taric, Unmasked Kayle, Nightmare Cho'Gath, and Butcher Urgot -- and who doesn't want his favorite slaughter machine dressed up as the friendly neighborhood butcher? While they may make a future reappearance for special events, the vintage skins won't be commonly available anymore. The good news is that for the last weekend they're up for purchase, the skins will be on 75% sale, and the champions they belong to will be on 20% sale until Monday as well.
GDC 2012: The Firing Line talks release dates with Tribes Ascend's Todd Harris
It's been a crazy week at GDC, and though I've already gotten the skinny on both PlanetSide 2 and DUST 514, there's more on the way when it comes to online shooter news. Yesterday morning I headed over to the Hi-Rez Studios booth on the main show floor, where COO Todd Harris had some exciting news to share with fans of the firm's Tribes: Ascend title. The free-to-play shooter will officially launch on April 12th, and Hi-Rez has also released a new parody trailer that pays homage to Dead Island and shows off the perils of the dreaded "llama capture" (if you're a Tribes newb, just know that speed equals survival when it comes to flag-grabs). Join me after the cut for some Tribes-related chit-chat as well news of new content on the way for Global Agenda.
League of Legends reveals Fiora, The Grand Duelist
If you're fed up with all the recent mage champions added to League of Legends, you'll be happy to know that the next champion due to hit the scene is a true melee carry. Fiora is a competent initiator able to dash around a teamfight picking off fleeing heroes. Fiora's passive causes her to regenerate health every time she hits a target, stacking up to four times if the target is an enemy hero. Her first move, Lunge, is a double-dash that can be used to land a hit and escape, chase down a fleeing target, or initiate teamfights. As if that weren't enough mobility, Burst of Speed gives bonus movement speed for every basic attack or lunge that hits while it's active. Burst of Speed also provides an attack speed boost, and its cooldown resets if Fiora kills an enemy champion. Riposte gives Fiora a massive attack damage buff, causing the next basic attack or spell against her to be reflected back at the attacker. Fiora's ultimate, Blade Waltz, makes her rapidly bounce between nearby enemies, slashing each one for physical damage. Fiora is invulnerable during the move, but could easily be counter-attacked when it ends.
Riot releases new League of Legends Nautilus spotlight video
We brought you Riot's new Nautilus reveal a couple of days ago, and now the company has released a second video featuring its latest League of Legends champion. The clip features seven minutes worth of strategy and gameplay footage, all of it centered around the beefy new melee tank. Whether you make use of Nautilus' anchor (and its associated drag ability), or spread his damage around to multiple targets, you'll find him to be a worthwhile addition to just about any fight, according to Riot. Head past the break to view the full video. [Source: Riot press release]
League of Legends reveals Nautilus, announces Sona nerf
Riot Games adds a new champion to League of Legends' growing roster every few weeks to keep the game fresh, and this week Riot revealed the game's next champion Nautilus, the Titan of the Depths. Nautilus is a tank with a unique initiation ability: He throws his massive anchor toward a target, and then drags himself toward the anchor. His abilities encourage spreading damage around during team fights, with his passive adding bonus damage to his first attack against a champion every twelve seconds and immobilising them slightly. A shield ability and area-effect damage spells make Nautilus a dangerous tank to be near during team fights. A number of gameplay and balance changes will be coming in the Nautilus patch. Shen is getting a complete ability set retuning to make him scale better to late game, and let him function better as as tank. It's been a long time coming, but unsurprisingly LoL's dominant support champion Sona is due for a few nerfs in the upcoming patch. The mana regenerated by Soraka's Infuse will be increased but she'll no longer be able to cast it on herself to essentially have limitless mana. Nerfs are also on the way for Vladimir, aimed at decreasing his early game presence without disrupting his fun gameplay. Check out the full patch preview video after the cut for more details.
League of Legends reveals Ziggs, the Hexplosives Expert
If you're a fan of League of Legends' cute, fuzzy, and distinctly psychotic yordles, you're in for a treat this week! Riot Games has revealed the game's next champion, a furry little yordle who's as adorable as he is deadly. Ziggs the Hexplosives Expert may look innocent enough, but he'd just as sooner drop a bomb in your lap than give you a hug. In a new gameplay reveal, developers give us a look at each of Ziggs' abilities, some screenshots of him in combat, and a dose of lore to blend the new champion into LoL's ever-growing roster. Ziggs is able to throw a bouncing bomb, set up a delayed satchel charge and scatter proximity mines across the ground that detonate on contact. His ultimate ability, the aptly named Mega Inferno Bomb, is essentially a long-range portable nuke that deals massive damage to those inside the primary blast radius. All of these abilities add up to make Ziggs a scary little damage-dealer to come up against in a match. The Ziggs patch will bring with it a number of additional balance changes, including the removal of the critical strike mastery in the offense tree, a buff coming to Jax, and a significant nerf heading for Lee Sin players. Check out the Ziggs patch preview video after the break for more details.
League of Legends releases Ahri, the Nine-Tailed Fox
Back in September, Riot Games was so excited about an upcoming League of Legends champion it had barely begun working on that it released the concept to fans far ahead of schedule. The champion later became known as Ahri, the Nine-Tailed Fox, and last week we got a sneak peek at her abilities and the balance changes that would be accompanying her arrival. That patch went live this weekend, and Ahri has now been officially released. In a new champion spotlight video, LoL's resident strategic expert Phreak discusses each of Ahri's abilities in detail and gives tips on playing the champion effectively. Ahri is a mage assassin, able to dish out considerable damage in a short space of time. After landing a number of spell attacks, Ahri's next spell will hit with a huge bonus to spell vamp. By sending an Orb of Deception through a whole wave of enemy creeps once the spell vamp buff is active, Ahri can heal herself for a significant amount. Her ultimate allows her to quickly dash around the field of play, either to chase down a fleeing champion or evade pursuit. Skip past the cut to watch the full champion spotlight video in HD, and stay tuned to our weekly Not So Massively column every Monday for more LoL news and updates.
League of Legends to introduce big changes with the Ahri patch
Riot Games has revealed that the long-awaited League of Legends champion Ahri the Nine Tailed Fox will be coming in the very next patch. In addition to heralding the arrival of the new champion, the Ahri patch will introduce some major gameplay changes. In a new patch preview video, lead champion designer Morello and spotlight announcer Phreak discuss the biggest balance and gameplay changes coming in the next patch. Twisted Fate's attack range will be increased, and he'll now be able to manually pick a target for his attack once he locks a card. This should prevent cards hitting the wrong target and make him better able to harass in a lane without leaving himself exposed. Tryndamere receives a much-needed nerf to his self-heal as he tends to have a full rage bar when he's doing well in a lane and the heal ends up being much too powerful. The "perseverence" mastery in the utility tree is being removed and replaced with an old "strength of spirit" mastery that converts maximum mana into bonus health regeneration. With the removal of dodge runes, Phreak and Morello also discuss some new ones being added to make the game a bit more interesting. Skip past the cut to watch the full patch preview video, and stay tuned to our weekly Not So Massively column every Monday for more LoL news and updates.
Hi-Rez releases new Tribes: Ascend gameplay trailer [Updated]
Tribes: Ascend's closed beta period is moving right along, and Hi-Rez Studios has just released a new teaser trailer designed to offer franchise newbs a primer on what to expect when strapping on a jetpack and picking up a spinfuser for the first time. The new clip is called Focus, and it's composed entirely of gameplay footage, although some of it has been slowed down, stopped, or similarly stylized in order to afford us a better view of what's going on. Tribes' gameplay is fast, you see, really fast, and if you blink, you're liable to miss mid-air flag passes, aerial kills, and long-range trajectory shots that have to be seen to be believed. [Update]: Ascend is also gearing up to make its eSports debut courtesy of the North American Star League (NASL). The game is the "first FPS to be selected for inclusion by the NASL and will be featured as a promotional title throughout its third season," according to the Hi-Rez website. Hit the links below for more info, and don't forget the action trailer after the cut. Shazbot!
World of Tanks becomes an e-sport
The phrase "serious business" is often used to poke fun at gamers who take their MMORPGs, well... too seriously. World of Tanks players are having the last laugh, though, as their game is now officially an e-sport with the potential to repay their time investment with a bit of real-world cash. Wargaming.net's latest press release has the details, which include the fact that WoT is now a part of the Electronic Sports League Major Series -- also known as the largest gaming league in Europe. ESL boasts over 3 million registered members and upwards of 740,000 registered teams, making it a good fit for the hardcore World of Tanks community which holds the single-server player concurrency world record. Head on over to the ESL World of Tanks portal to sign up for the first official event.
Massively revisits Bloodline Champions and gets pwned
The last time I visited Stunlock Studios' Bloodline Champions, I was impressed but not very turned on. Sure, it worked well, and despite its only semi-original art design, it looked good enough. It just wasn't really my game. I'm not a PvPer, and I'm certainly not an arena-combat type of guy. Yes, I enjoy a good romp in the pits once in a while, but arena-type games just seem repetitive. Well, that was back in the early release or beta of the game. Now that I have returned, I have found a much improved, smooth, and more full-featured game. I can even say that I had (gasp!) quite a bit of fun. Granted, I was not able to play many games, simply because during the day it seemed that only the European players had any games available -- and even those were generally locked out -- but I played a few that made me feel, well, kind of tough. Click past the cut and let me explain.
First Impressions: Bloodline Champions
Bloodline Champions, a new arena-based combat game from Stunlock Studios, asks only one thing of the player: to kill. Unfortunately for me, I am better at balancing bicycles on my nose than I am at pwning noobs, so I was a little hesitant in trying the game. I decided to puff out my chest and hit the download button. What I found was about what I expected, but made with care. The game is "tailored for esport," meaning that it is made to allow players to repeatedly knock the crud out of each other while racking up kills and stats. If you ever ran the World of Warcraft arena over and over in the hopes of filling out your wardrobe with "welfare epics," then you have experienced a game much like Bloodline. There are several "bloodlines" to pick from, each with its own set of unique abilities, spells and looks. Many of the bloodlines compliment each other, and forming an efficient team of killers requires communication and dedication. During my stint within the arena, I found myself (and my team) being murdered over and over again by much more tightly knit gangs of players. After a match or two, the pattern and strategy of the members of the opposing team quickly became apparent: they actually talked to each other and discussed tactics. What a strange concept to me. I tend to come to fights somewhat randomly. Well -- very randomly.
SK Gaming splits into separate PvE and PvP guilds
We received news yesterday that SK Gaming, the multinational raiding and arena juggernaut, has decided to split into separate PvE and PvP branches. Well, perhaps that's a little misleading. SK Gaming had partnered with the famed Curse of EU-Veknilash (the same people behind Curse Gaming and World of Raids), and their combined efforts resulted in three world-firsts in Sunwell under the SK Gaming tag (Felmyst, M'uru, and Kil'Jaeden). That success aside, they reached the decision that the pursuit of competitive raiding and e-sport supremacy under the auspice of the same guild just wasn't working, and that the game demanded an entirely different vision and means of guild organization for each goal.According to Mekon, the guild master of the former PvE branch (which remains on EU-Veknilash but is now renamed "Put Your Name Here" -- you can't accuse them of not having a sense of humor), it was the PvE players' decision to leave, "absolutely nothing changes within the guild," and they will continue to pursue world firsts in Wrath. We interviewed Neg, one of their resto Shamans, not long after they got their world-first Kil'Jaeden kill. This was less than a month after the major U.S. raiding guild Death and Taxes had gone the way of the dinosaur, and Neg had some insightful observations concerning what was happening to raiding guilds with Wrath of the Lich King on the not-too-distant horizon. At the time I privately hoped that other major raid guilds wouldn't suffer D&T's fate, and...well, this isn't really it, I suppose. Both sides of SK Gaming will continue to operate, just independently of each other (from both an organizational and financial perspective). If nothing else I find it a fairly thought-provoking commentary on the degree of Blizzard's success attempting to legitimize arena as a true e-sport, and how the game's top players see the PvP side of the game increasingly disconnected from its PvE counterpart.
Forum post of the Day: E-Sportsmanship
I played softball when I was just a little mandy. I was in right field, and I wasn't particularly good, but I had a blast playing. Some how I came out of it with a few championship trophies and a lot of great memories. At the conclusion of each of our games we would line up as a team and slap hands with the opposition. "Good game. Good Game. Good Game. Good Game. Good Game." I'm sure that a number of you have had similar experiences. We were taught to be good sports when we won and when we lost. The fascinating part of an esport is that we are not face to face. Rather than bringing out our magnanimous natures, we tend to get cranky in the wake of a loss, and sometimes even after a victory. Karelle of Hydraxis admitted in the general forums the he is a poor loser. He felt he was unjustly beaten by a team that overgeared him and was insulted when the team leader whispered "good game." Rather than repeating the greeting, the original poster /spit on the victor.
