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Battlestar Galactica Online adding new ships this month, surpasses 5M registered players
Bigpoint just can't seem to stay out of the news today, and whether its the incendiary pay-to-win remarks of an executive or an update to its Battlestar Galactica browser MMO, there's a lot of interesting buzz swirling around the company of late. The devs are adding a new line of fleet recon ships to Battlestar Galactica Online, and the craft will enable both Colonial and Cylon players to jump directly to their targets while "in proximity of an erupting battle." The ships will debut in mid-September and are modeled on the Raptor and Heavy Raider craft from the beloved Syfy television series. Bigpoint's latest press release also mentions that the Brimir-class carrier will be "available this fall, though its size, complexity, and impact on game balance must be optimized before its general release." Finally, the company is trumpeting some new metrics, and the release says that BSGO has surpassed the five million registered player mark. [Source: Bigpoint press release]
Fallen Earth rocks the future with a Nuclear Blast
Today's news from the wasteland is like the introduction of the peanut butter cup: two great tastes that taste great together. The post-apocalyptic MMO Fallen Earth has partnered with recording label Nuclear Blast. The heavy metal and extreme music studio has supported a multitude of independent rockers for over 24 years, and its pairing with the grungy MMO from Icarus Studios could be the best fit the game has seen yet. In a press release issued by the developers of Fallen Earth, Senior Game Designer Marie Croall stated, "We listen to so much of Nuclear Blast's music at the office. This is an awesome opportunity to share our favorite music with our players." To help with this goal, the developers will open an underground bunker bar next month, a bar that will feature Nuclear Blast Radio and rotate through many of the recording label's greatest artists like Meshuggah, Soilwork, and Testament. Tune your radio dial to Massively for an upcoming Q&A session from artists and developers from Fallen Earth. As Nuclear Blast's Label Manager Gerardo Martínez said, "Get ready to hear the sounds of Fallen Earth on tour buses across the country!"
Bad Company 2 getting updated BC1 maps (and more) in VIP Map Pack 7
It may have taken six map unlocks before DICE got to it, but the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 developer announced this morning that VIP Map Pack 7 will include four new(ish) multiplayer maps: Heavy Metal, Cold War, Oasis, and Harvest Day. If the latter two maps sound familiar, it's because they're updated versions of maps that appeared in the original Bad Company -- handpicked with the community in mind. "When we ask for your favorite maps from Battlefield: Bad Company, Oasis and Harvest Day always come out on top," the DLC's announcement reads. As with previous map packs, the DLC will be free for VIP members only (VIP access is free with new copies of BC2, $15 otherwise). Outside of a handful of (relatively minor) tweaks noted on the Battlefield blog, the biggest change to the maps will be the addition of Bad Company 2's "Destruction 2.0" system and enhanced graphics. Check out the first shots of the revamped maps in the gallery below and look for a more in-depth exploration of Heavy Metal this Wednesday. Hopefully Wednesday will bring news of a release date as well.%Gallery-106979%
The Friday Livestream: Dynasty Warriors Online... er... FFXIV [Updated]
Yes, that's right dear readers, it's another edition of the Friday Livestream! It's almost time for the weekend, and that means it's time for us to get down and enjoy another MMO. Tonight we're going to give Dynasty Warriors Online a try, because I've always had a soft spot for the Dynasty Warriors series. Sure, the games are horribly repetitive and always occur in the same timeline with the same battles in every iteration, but there's just something really satisfying about walking into a battle and taking on a whole army by yourself. It's just an amusing amount of fun. Oh, and did I mention we're giving out beta keys to the game? Yeah, you should totally get in on that. So, if you want to check out the action of DWO, hit the "read more" button below or click the picture above. Either way, you'll be taken to our livestream of the game, or you could visit us at http://www.livestream.com/massivelytv and join in on the live chat too! [Update: Well that was interesting. Instead of DWO, we did World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and Final Fantasy XIV! The video is, as always, after the break for those who missed the stream!]
TUAW's Daily App: Robot Unicorn Attack Heavy Metal Edition
Take the beloved Canabalt-style Robot Unicorn Attack game, remix it with some heavy music and aesthetic, and you've got the new iOS-exclusive version,which is available now on the App Store. That's really all you need to know -- give the online version a play if you haven't yet, and you'll see how much fun dashing and jumping with a robot unicorn can be. Sure, it's simple, but it's fun, and with the heavy metal tune playing in the background, it's even more awesome. And it's only US 99 cents; that's two bucks cheaper than the classic Erasure version. Great game, great price, and a great exclusive iPhone experience to boot.
Brutal Legend video explores game world's art style
The latest Brütal Legend video has Art Director Lee Petty describing the style and artistic influences for the game's world. Most of it is interesting to those out there with an art degree, but we certainly got a giggle out of one of game's factions being inspired by 15th century art and "[Double Fine's] tremendous amount of research into the S&M scene." We wonder if those toys like "leather straps" and "ball gags" were brought into the office and purchased with the company credit card for "research" ... and whether Tim Shafer now keeps a dungeon for employee use? ... Hey, the game is M-rated, this is a perfectly appropriate question to ask. What?! Stop looking at us like that.
Full Brutal Legend soundtrack released by EA Denmark
Fun fact: Heavy Metal was invented in Denmark in 1843 by Professor Garth Metallus in a horrible lab accident involving taut metal strings and a primitive electroacoustical transducer. The spirit of the rock music has innundated the nation ever since -- as such, we're not surprised that EA Denmark was the studio which recently revealed the 100-plus thrashing songs which will be included in Double Fine's upcoming epic rock story, Brütal Legend.The list has since been pulled from EA Denmark's site, but not before Kotaku snagged a screencap of a translated version of the page. We've got the whole kit n' caboodle posted after the jump. Unless EA makes some drastic changes to the final setlist, they're going to have to put a Surgeon General's warning on the game, telling players they're about to subject themselves to a terrible case of face melting.%Gallery-41208%
Dio cut from Brutal Legend, replaced by Tim Curry
The "Holy Diver" himself, Ronnie James Dio of heavy metal band Dio, has reportedly been cut from Brütal Legend's voice actor list. Dio's management confirmed to Blabbermouth the removal of the lead singer's voice from the game, not citing any specific reasons, though it noted that actor Tim Curry will be filling the position.Speculation surrounding the cut points to a longstanding feud between Brütal Legend's "Guardian of Metal" Ozzy Osbourne and Dio, though we're not so sure that their feud would carry over into the Double Fine-developed, EA-published title. To be honest with you though, we're still reeling from the lack of inclusion of any members of Slayer. "Raining Blood" playing while the act itself takes place in game -- these things write themselves, people![Thanks, The Weaponeer] [Image credit]
L80ETC interview brings the thunder
Are you one of the 11 million people playing World of Warcraft? Frustrated by your enormous amount of down-time while waiting for the hot tastiness of the 3.1 patch today? Into Heavy Metal? You're in luck! Just in time for 10+ hours of agonizing maintenance (and probably a few extra hours of weirdness afterward) Games On Net has released their exclusive interview with Azeroth's madmen of metal, Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftan! Yes - you heard that correctly; not an interview with the creators, but an actual in-character interview with the members. We're throwing horns at the power-chord crunchers over at Blizzard for actually actively role-playing the interview for the sheer sake of awesome. Some of the answers in the interview were pretty funny, including references to several real-world musicians being given a special World of Warcraft twist (ManoWarrior and Jethro Troll being favorites) and an unexpected reference to Dwarves. If you get the chance (and let's face it, you've got the time with downtime) head over and give it a read. It's far too much metal for one hand... err... interview!
Heavy Metal editor partners with Titmouse for 'Fistful of Blood' game
Recently formed studio Titmouse Games has announced a partnership with Kevin Eastman, co-creator of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and publisher/editor of the cult-hit illustrated magazine, Heavy Metal. The team plans to work on a number of video game projects but first on the scope is an "excessive action game," Fistful of Blood -- based on the popular Heavy Metal published book of the same name. Eager to "start Titmouse Games off right" creative director Aaron Habibipour could think of no better combination than throwing gamers into a world filled with "enough aliens, zombies, vampires, guns, blood, gore, vengeance, and sexy chicks" to kill a large, wild animal.Titmouse Games (founded by the creators of Metalocalypse) recently announced their first title, a "dark comedic" RPG about an undead pirate titled Seven Haunted Seas.As for Fistful of Blood -- ESRB we'll do you a favor ... This one is going to be Rated M for Mature. Believe.
An interview with Mythic's Live Events Lead, Mark Davis
If you were a fan of Witching Night, Heavy Metal, Keg's End, Night of Murder, and Bitter Rivals, you will probably enjoy this interrogation of, er, interview with Mark Davis, Live Events Lead for Warhammer Online. Syp of the WAAAGH! Blog had a chance to ask Mark some interesting questions about these events, which surprisingly weren't even a planned feature until shortly after the game's release.According to Mark, Mythic received the most positive feedback for the Night of Murder event, which focused primarily on RvR. They received the worst feedback for the PvE-heavy Keg's End event. The dedicated team is always trying to improve Live Events based on player feedback and finding new ways to incorporate them into the Warhammer IP. If you enjoy re-occurring seasonal/holiday themed events, you will not be disappointed as they plan to bring them back bigger and better each time around. Check out the WAAAGH! Blog for the full interview, including an interesting list of lessons learned since unleashing their first Live Event.Do you have a favorite event? If so, why?
Going down the rabbit hole with Warhammer Online's live events
With just a few months of live service under their belts, the team behind Warhammer Online has already distinguished itself with quality and innovative live events. Heavy Metal, the Reikland Factory preview, Keg End, Witching Night ... all new looks at old holidays, highlighted by the game's unique Tome of Knowledge system. Crispy Gamer has a look at the creation of these events with Mark Davis, Mythic associate producer and live events designer. Davis talks a bit about Mythic's philosophy behind creating these events, and notes their high level of popularity with the playerbase.Their popularity isn't hard to figure out. Offered Davis, "[WAR is] all about the bragging rights. Players like to show off how powerful they are or what accomplishments they've unlocked, and this is one way that they can show how cool they are." We at Massively have definitely enjoyed the events they've offered up so far. What about you? Which Warhammer live event has been your favorite? Any holidays you're particularly looking forward to the team tackling?
Warhammer Online 1.0.6 patch adds new classes, tidal wave of updates
All those Warhammer Online players who where playing along with the Heavy Metal event in November will be happy to know that today the fruits of their labor has arrived. That's right: Today, Mythic brings us Black Guards and Knights of the Blazing Sun! For those who didn't finish the full Heavy Metal event, don't worry, the classes will become available to everyone next week. Servers are going down at 3:30AM PST / 6:30AM EST for North American players with Oceanic servers following at 9:00AM EST. No specific time-frame was given for the updating process, so we'll just have to sit tight and wait it out.New classes aren't the only thing found in this patch, however. There's a ton of general game updates, performance updates, bug fixes and class tweaks coming with the 1.0.6 patch, too. In fact, there are so many class tweaks that Bright Wizards, Chosen, Engineers, Ironbreakers, Maguses (Magi?), Shadow Warriors, Sorcerers, Squig Herders and Swordmasters are all getting their mastery points refunded. Combat also seems to be a big focus, with a ton of improvements to auto-attack animations, ability responsiveness, morale responsiveness and root responsiveness.All in all, we're pretty impressed with Mythic on this patch, as it delivers some substantial changes that many players have been waiting to see. 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!
Video footage of WAR's Reikland Factory scenario
The Heavy Metal live event for Warhammer Online has been well-received, albeit with some complaints about scenario frequency. Reikland Factory is a unique 'event-only' scenario in WAR, which some players lament will end with Heavy Metal. If this is indeed the case, at least one blogger out there decided to capture it in video for posterity. Snafzg from The Greenskin blog has put up video footage of his participation in the Reikland Factory scenario. The footage, with Snafzg's commentary throughout, walks the viewer through the scenario and its multiple types of terrain, both indoors and open air. Snafzg is in combat for much of the walkthrough so it's an interesting way to get a quick visual tour of the scenario. You can find The Greenskin's "Reikland Factory Heavy Metal Scenario RvR" video embedded below the cut: 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!
WAR's Heavy Metal hotfixes
Mythic Entertainment has announced some recent Warhammer Online hot fixes they've made regarding the Heavy Metal live event, which entails the completion of daily tasks for the chance to gain early access to the two new classes being introduced to the game. Despite the excitement some had about being able to play a Knight of the Blazing Sun or a Black Guard early through goal completion in the Heavy Metal event, there have been some issues and complaints that WAR players have been reporting -- particularly in regards to unfinished tasks and scenario launch rates at Reikland Factory. Warhammer Online community coordinator James Nichols made an announcement about what Mythic is doing to address these concerns: By popular request, players will now be able to complete previous daily tasks for the Heavy Metal event. A task will continue to unlock each day and remain open until the end of the event allowing players to complete all the tasks at their convenience. Please Note: If you notice an apparent loss of credit for any previous days you have already completed simply exit the game entirely and log back in to correct this issue. Reikland Factory: Improvements have been made to potentially increase the rate at which the scenario launches. How have your own experiences with WAR's Heavy Metal live event been? 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!
Warhammer Online 1.0.5 patch lands on the live servers
The 1.0.5 patch for Warhammer Online hits live servers today and with it comes various small fixes and changes, mainly focused on RvR improvements. But that's probably not what everyone's the most excited about. No, that would be the fact that 1.0.5 is the start of the Heavy Metal event for players interested in trying out the new Reikland Factory Scenario and getting a chance at playing the Black Guard and Knight of the Blazing Sun a week earlier than everyone else.We're sure that everyone is going to be quite busy playing around in the new Scenario for the next week or two, hopefully it won't be much longer now before some of those career and open RvR improvements come down the line. You can find the full patch notes after the break.
Warhammer combat and careers patches pushed back
Mythic dev Mark Jacobs writes that the combat and careers patches for Warhammer Online will not be appearing in patch 1.0.5 as previously planned and are instead being rescheduled for patch 1.0.6. "Our plan was that no patch would make it through the [Public Test Servers] until we were sure that it was tested thoroughly and properly." writes Jacobs, "It was evident throughout the testing process that some of the changes needed to be reconsidered and some changed outright." Patch 1.0.5 is going to deploy to live servers tomorrow (Tuesday, 18 November), with fixes/improvements to the Realm War system, and the "Heavy Metal" Live Event that sets the stage for the Knight of the Blazing Sun and Blackguard.
Heavy Metal live event brings two new careers to Warhammer Online
Much sooner than many were expecting, two new careers - the Knight of the Blazing Sun and the Black Guard - are to be introduced to Warhammer Online. Rather than just slip them in with a patch, Mythic is making a festival of the event. The classes won't be available to everyone at first; instead, by completing certain tasks, players will be able to unlock them early.From November 17th when the event launches, a new tab in the Tome of Knowledge will take players to the Live Events page. There will be a new daily task placed on the page each day, and completing those tasks earns influence, public quest style; the ultimate prize, which will require a login and task completion each day, will be the ability to play the new classes a week before general release. 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!
Detroit Metal City makes for awesome action figures
Upon first seeing Detroit Metal City: Death Shout, we came to a conclusion: the game was the perfect amount of crazy for us. It's no secret that we enjoy odd things here at DS Fanboy, so we'd like to point out that the game is now getting action figures, allowing you to act out scenarios you might not find in the Japanese title.As you can see to the right, Johannes Krauser II came out wonderfully in his action figure. He's not only available as you see him there, but also in another costume. Joining him for this run of action figures is also the band's drummer.So, anybody want to pick these up for us? Our birthday is, uh, soon or something.
