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Runes of Magic celebrates Chapter II release
The Runes of Magic community has been waiting a long time, and now, Chapter II: The Elven Prophecy has arrived! With new raids for the community to enjoy; new elven characters; new Druid and Warden classes; and a few different contests to participate in, you'd think that Frogster Interactive and Runewaker Entertainment would have more than enough to celebrate! Well, it turns out that not only have they managed to release a huge new chunk of content extremely smoothly, they've also managed to attract 1.9 million players to their game since the initial launch a scant six months ago. With the continual focus on improvements, the gifts to the player-base in the form of the occasional diamonds, armor sets, and the like, we're not too surprised. Runes of Magic is a F2P that seems determined to make their mark. With an expansion, almost 2 million players, and a bunch of free fun for their player-base, we're curious to see how the next 6 months go for them. In the meantime, we'll be in Taborea, leveling our Druids and Wardens. Gallery: Runes of Magic: The Elven Prophecy Gallery: Runes of Magic: The Weeping Coast
Runes of Magic's Elven Prophecy releases September 15, collectors items announced
Frogster has just announced a September 15 release date for Runes of Magic's next content update, Chapter II - The Elven Prophecy. The update will bring players into new zones, like the Savage Lands, in addition to adding a new race to Runes of Magic -- the elves. September 15 will also mark the release of a boxed version of Runes of Magic for Germany, France, and Spain (at a recommended retail price of €9,90). That boxed version will include a few collectors items: Manticore pet Printed manual Poster-sized world map of Taborea Time-limited mount: Thunder Wartiger
DC Series 6 figures feature Sylvanas and Bronzebeard
We only just posted about the DC Unlimited Premium series 2 figures, and here comes another set that's getting announced way earlier than it's getting released. The series 6 set isn't actually due out until March of next year (seriously, what's with all of the early announce dates on these things?), but it does have some of the most-wanted lore figures in the game depicted in action figure form. Magni Bronzebeard, Sylvanas Windrunner, and goblin tinker Gibzz Sparklighter are all making appearances, as you can see over on DC's page.I think they look pretty darn good, though I'm still not sold on actually buying one. We'll likely see them on the floor at BlizzCon, so if you want to get a closer look, be sure to poke around the DC booth there. And even if you're not going, we'll be sure to take pics for you.
Runes of Magic introduces Druids and Wardens in The Elven Prophecy
We've told you all about the next patch -- entitled The Elven Prophecy -- for Runes of Magic and, in advance of the launch in September, Frogster have introduced two new Elven classes: the Druid and the Warden. Both classes are rooted deeply in nature, with their abilities tied to the world itself and each have their place within the world and lore of Runes of Magic.Essentially Elven priests, Druids have similar abilities to a mage and are able to channel the gifts of nature in battle or to heal their allies. Wardens meanwhile, are the peacekeepers of Elven society and the land who exist in an almost symbiotic state with the flora of the Elves' homeland. In times of war, they are skilled at close combat. Frogster have updated The Elven Prophecy site with some suitably Elven artwork and information on both classes. You can also take a peek at our gallery to see what the new patch is going to look like. %Gallery-65922%
Global Agenda trailer puts pansy elves in their place
We just had a look at some of the gameplay from Global Agenda at E3, but the latest trailer from Hi-Rez studios is a bit different. It's a more humorous look at the sort of characters that will be found in-game, or rather, the sorts that won't. Walking around in a flowing robe and attempting to fling fireballs won't get you very far in Global Agenda, as the trailer points out so clearly -- a Recon character makes short work of an elf trying to fill his cast-bar to attack, proving that technology is the key to victory in this particular world, and that other elves hoping to join the game's cast need not apply. Hit the jump to check out the full trailer.
Warhammer Online updates lore with The Origin of the Elves
The GOA Team at Warhammer Online updated the game's lore this week with "The Origin of the Elves". Love 'em or hate 'em, they came from somewhere. But even the Elves themselves aren't sure of their true origins, which have been lost with the passage of thousands of years. The Origin of the Elves walks the reader from the early, peaceful days of the Elves on the Isle of Ulthuan to when the Old Ones' Warp Gates collapsed, and the forces of Chaos flooded in. The struggle to resist Chaos changed the Elves, forcing them to become increasingly war-like in order to survive. The Warhammer Online lore update tells the tale of the key figures in the history of the Elves and the parts they've played leading up to The Sundering, the cataclysm that shattered Nagarythe and further divided their once-harmonious race. You can find "The Origins of the Elves" over at The Warhammer Herald. The sands of the Tomb Kings are coming as the final release in the Call to Arms live expansion, the Land of the Dead approaches! Massively has your back with coverage from Mythic Entertainment at Games Day '09, so get your WAAGGGHHH ready for RvR mayhem as Massively re-arms for WAR!
BioWare talks EA acquisition, Dragon Age perception
With a sequel, an original IP and now an MMO in the pipeline, it's a wonder that anyone at BioWare gets any sleep these days, least of all company head honchos Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk. Still, if there's one benefit to insomnia it's that it leaves you with a lot of time on your hands to talk about any number of things, including what life is like after being gobbled up by a publishing giant. "Honestly, I don't think there have been too many changes at all," reflected Muzyka on the state of BioWare following the company's acquisition by Electronic Arts in 2007. "If anything, we feel enhanced." The BioWare co-founder added that given that the company is now a publisher as well, "we control our destiny in terms of both development and marketing now."Part of that destiny includes Dragon Age: Origins, a game that Zeschuk admits has been a challenge to market as something more than just a Lord of the Rings clone. One difference is the role of elves, which are described as "not special" and "second-class citizens" in the eyes of humans, promising a stark contrast to those scampering about in Middle Earth when Dragon Age rolls onto retail shelves later this year.
The Daily Grind: What race would you add to Free Realms?
Humans and Pixies -- or faeries if you like -- of both genders are currently available in SOE's upcoming Free Realms. Some of us have already jokingly suggested what we'd want in future races, but it seemed like a reasonable enough question to ask those interested in playing the game what they would want to see.Certainly there are all sorts of other things that could be added to Free Realms, most of them being new jobs. And while those are without a doubt coming, we'll leave that topic for another day and another grind.So what's it gonna be dear Massively readers? More fantasy ala Dwarves and Elves, or would you rather race karts, raise pets, cook food and fight Robgoblins (yes, that is what they're called) as a robotic penguin person? Speaking of Robgoblins, there's always playing as baddies like them or trolls and such, too!So many choices.
GDC09: Runes of Magic has lots more in store
We had the opportunity to sit down with the Runes of Magic team at GDC last week. As one of the strongest free-to-play entrants in the MMO genre in the last little while, we've been very curious as to some of the things they have in store for the future. Luckily the guys from Frogster didn't disappoint as they sat down and gave us some hints of the many things that players can look forward to in upcoming months. Unlike many MMO publishers, the Frogster team is actually maintaining a fairly large live team; 65 people are currently working on Runes of Magic. Normally when an MMO launches, you'll see the teams cut down to about 20 or 30 people. That said they have a fairly ambitious schedule of things they want to release, so maintaining a full live team was something they said they felt was important to do. The Runes of Magic live team are looking to publish new content approximately every four months.%Gallery-24476%
Know Your LotRO Lore: Lothlorien
With Lord of the Rings Online's Volume II: Book 7 content releasing this month, it would only be fitting to spend this week's Know Your LotRO Lore catching you up on the land of Lothlórien. As discussed in our Turbine dev tour earlier this week, Lothlórien plays a key role in the Elven resistance against Sauron. Understanding its lore is crucial to appreciating how closely Turbine has re-created this area for us in the game.Follow with us through the link below to find out more on this Elven wonderland, and be sure to read through all of our previous Know Your LotRO Lore articles in preparation for your time in the game and the upcoming content.%Gallery-39552%
Getting back to basics with LotRO's new player experience
We appreciate a developer who goes back to earlier content and improves upon it. And to that end, our appreciation of those who go back to the very beginning knows no bounds. That's why we're quite pleased with Turbine for rolling out their "New Player Experience" changes with the free Volume II: Book 7 update to Lord of the Rings Online.If you'd like to know exactly what all the changes are going to be about then take a look at this developer diary focusing on the Dwarf and Elf starting zones. Much of the changes are quality of life stuff, like reducing travel times and removing all newbie instances to avoid any load screens. Turbine's also added quest rewards for specific races and classes, and even tossed in dyes as rewards to alleviate the tedium of seeing equipment clones running all over the place.These changes (and others) are all great improvements. With the new quest tracking system coming at the same time, Lord of the Rings Online is shaping up to be an all-around friendlier MMO experience.
LotRO Volume II: Book 7 concept art depicts Elven beauty
The newest concept art to hit from the Volume II: Book 7: Leaves of Lórien update for Lord of the Rings Online features an astonishingly beautiful Galadriel's Court. Does it surprise anyone else that elves are all about visually stunning architecture? While the Dwarves are primarily concerned with size and how much gold was involved, the Elves seem to focus on making everything curvy and elegant. It's like an M.C. Escher drawing, only with leaves and vines instead of doors and stairs.There's plenty more beautiful concept are that's previously come out of Turbine, and we highly encourage you browse through them if you haven't yet. Trust us, it's worth the few minutes you'll spend massaging your eye muscles enough to stop them from popping those precious peepers back into their sockets. Additionally, we've got the first screens from the Volume II: Book 7 update as well.%Gallery-46767%%Gallery-18340%
Mabinogi expansion "Pioneers of Iria" set for February 26th
The massive content addition Pioneers of Iria is set to go live for Mabinogi users on February 26th, introducing two new races and a brand new continent for the low, low cost of free.Information about Iria has been slowly released over time on the Erinn Walker website, which has revealed even more interesting things about the new expansion. Iria will be featuring more field bosses to take on in large groups, like giant wooly mammoths, yetis, sandworms, dragons and even Ifrit himself. The new races, elves and giants, will also be able to take advantage of transformation techniques and enter "beast mode" to deal more damage to enemies around them.Nexon has also released a new trailer for Iria, which we've embedded for your viewing pleasure after the break. For more information on what Iria has in store for players, check out the Iria website and stay tuned to Massively.com.
Know Your LotRO Lore: The Elves
Welcome to Know Your LotRO Lore, a new weekly column here at Massively showcasing the lore of J.R.R. Tolkien's world as it intersects with Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online.The Elf is possibly the most intricately-detailed race in all of J.R.R. Tolkien's works. He created their histories, bloodlines and origins throughout his entire life, from before The Hobbit to works published after his death. Did Tolkien invent Elves? No, but he did redefine them as they're portrayed today in modern fantasy settings. Mostly everything we see in WoW, Warhammer, and of course LotRO come from Tolkien's descriptions of the Germanic and Celtic mythological creatures. Follow along below on our journey through the origins and progression of Tolkien's Elves in Middle-earth and beyond. Elven Origins >> %Gallery-39552%
Interview with Dick Hill, voice of Blizzard's audiobooks
Our friend Medievaldragon has an interview up over at WorldofWar.net with Dick Hill, voice of the upcoming Warcraft audiobooks. Reading the books is a great way of catching up on old lore and new characters found in the new expansion, and considering that lots of players like to listen to books while playing (me included), these will probably end up being pretty popular.Hill isn't a huge Warcraft fan (though his son has played a few of the games), but he is an audiobook veteran, having read over 500 books, including works by Terry Brooks, Orson Scott Card, and Anne McCaffrey, so he's got the chops for sure. It'll be very interesting to see what kinds of characterizations he has come up with -- while there are some very familiar voices already from the World of Warcraft, we'll have to see if he drew the same conclusions in terms of voicing the characters as they did. He says that you can't really research a Gnome's voice, or find any recordings of Elves, but we've actually talked to both in game, some of us every day.The first audiobook, Day of the Dragon, is due out sometime this month, with two more scheduled releases to follow next year.
Paul Barnett thinks you look like a Dwarf
Since Warhammer Online's launch, we haven't heard much out of the normally very vocal Creative Director for Mythic, Paul Barnett. Yet, in a recent interview at Ten Ton Hammer, Barnett speaks out about a few topics that are near and dear to his heart; most notably, the psychology of player races in WAR and how they pertain to appearance.Barnett is usually full of witty metaphors and clever comparisons, and he certainly doesn't disappoint in this interview. On the topic of Dwarfs, Barnett muses on the people who play them and how "Most of the people I've met who like Dwarfs basically look like Dwarfs". He goes on to discuss the psychology of the Greenskins, Chaos players and finally the Elves. "I don't think people that play as Elves look like Elves either, because then I'd have to hunt them all down and kill them because they're too perfect. And if you did look like a Dark Elf or High Elf, you wouldn't be playing our game, you'd be walking around asking people to look at you because you're so beautiful." Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Warhammer guides: Massively's Character Creation Guide and our WoW Player's Guide to Warhammer. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
First Impressions: SAGA
SAGA (not to be confused with Saga, who gave us the immortal "On the Loose") is an MMORTS -- massively multiplayer online real-time strategy game. While there are few enough of these on the market -- making its very existence worthy of approbation -- we thought it would be worth taking a closer look, to offer up an opinion of our first couple of hours into gameplay. Thus, this First Impressions post.Remember: this is not a guide, nor was this in any way influenced by the development studio. This is an entirely subjective look at SAGA, from an average gamer's point of view. And now, on with the show! Game. Thing. Whatever. Onward!%Gallery-28014%
A sneak peek at LotRO's Book 14
Book 13 hasn't even released yet and we're already salivating over Book 14 and the first LotRO paid expansion: The Mines of Moria. In a recent interview with Executive Producer Jeffery Steefel, we learn a few more details on the upcoming expansion and a sneak peek into Book 14.The Mines of Moria will open up several new regions to explore, including Lothlorian and Eregion as well. The main focus will be on Moria of course, which will expand above and below the Misty Mountains in a series of tunnels and underground chambers to keep your characters cautious of what lies around each and every corner. Of course before Moria, we will be treated to Book 14 where players will explore the ring forge in Eregion where the three rings of the Elves were made. The Shadows of Angmar storyline will conclude with this book, yet tie into Moria and what it has to offer our stalwart fellowship on their way to Mordor.
April Fools' in Age of Conan
We should've known those merry pranksters at Funcom wouldn't let the day go by without something. Age of Conan is best-known for its Barbarians, of course, but did you know that there were elves to be played as well?According to the site, 'Their graceful nature and beautiful appearance will often garner a few coin from passers-by simply by existing, and elves are granted first access to all taverns in the land, while others may have to wait for an instance to open up just to get in, and their exclusive, elf-only tree cities provide a relaxing respite from a wearying world.' So basically, elves are the celebrities of Hyboria. What else is new?For extra points, make sure you check out the elf character creation video at the bottom of the page![Thanks, Rollins!]
He said, she said: Does Blizzard support homosexual stereotyping?
He Said / She Said is a new feature at WoW Insider, which looks at the game from masculine and feminine points of view. Today, Amanda and David discuss the age-old question: are male night elves and blood elves "gay?" Does Blizzard intend to give us that impression, and if so, why? If that's not what Blizzard intends, then why is gayness such a big deal when people think of elves?Read on to see the conversation.
