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WoW TCG: Aftermath: Throne of the Tides adds monsters to the mix
As the Worldbreaker series comes to an end, we now turn to the aftermath of Deathwing's destructive awakening into Azeroth and the continued battle against the elements and the Twilight Hammer Cult. The newest WoW TCG expansion, Aftermath: Throne of the Tides, puts players in control of murloc, naga, and ogre heroes as exciting new additions to the WoW TCG hero lineup. Playing as some of the more monstrous races in the World of Warcraft universe is pretty cool, with all new keywords and abilities to take advantage of during gameplay. In addition, Throne of the Tides has been built from the ground up to be a smoother draft and sealed play experience, preparing even the newest players for fun, engaging tournament play. Read on to learn about the Epic Collection and the new in-game goodies that await TCG fans.
City of Heroes bonus weekend coming July 28th
Break out those City of Heroes alts, as there's a double XP event looming large over Paragon City next week. The festivities kick off at 9:00 a.m. Pacific on Thursday, July 28th, and the party continues through 11:59 p.m. Pacific on Sunday, July 31st. In addition to the XP smorgasbord, you'll be happy to know that your characters can double their pleasure when it comes to Inf and Prestige as well, so dust off those semi-retired superheroes and get ready to gorge them on NCsoft's sweet, sweet bonus event. Catch up on all our City of Heroes coverage while you wait, and don't forget to visit the CoH website for the official announcement.
Meet Power Matt, Powermat's new pun-based superhero ready to answer your tech questions (updated)
The biggest problem with modern society? A lack of good super villains. Seriously, today's superheroes are getting flabby from sitting around, twiddling their powerful thumbs. Look at poor Power Matt here -- dude's clearly been working out and doing his shopping at the Justice League department store. So what is he doing with his time? Foiling bank heists or intercepting speeding missiles? Nope. He's Powermat's new mascot, and he's fielding questions about the inductive charging pad on the company's Twitter account. Can someone please help the poor redheaded hero out and kidnap a world leader or something? Or at least steal their microUSB cable? Update: Ah, so according to reader Virginia Comicon, turns out this image is, ahem, inspired by the cover of Superman issue 233. Check out the comparison after the break.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Is ArenaNet approaching the pay-to-win line?
The addition of Guild Wars Mercenary Hero Packs to the NCsoft store is the latest step in ArenaNet's effort to highlight Guild Wars "microtransactions." (I am ambivalent about using the word microtransactions in this context -- "micro" in my eyes says under 10 dollars.) The mercenary heroes are probably the most controversial addition to the current store to date, and the ongoing debate fascinated me. I can see both sides of the argument, so I thought I'd take today and explore this new addition to the store and what it means. Follow along after the jump and let's look at the perceived pros and cons of the newest not-very-micro-transaction in the NCsoft store!
Embark Beach and Mercenary Heroes coming to Guild Wars
Do you play Guild Wars with nothing to lose and nothing to prove? Then you might wind up dancing with yourself in the newest update to the game, which will add a new system of Mercenary Heroes -- turning other characters on your account into special heroes just for your use. And since this update also gives players the option to have a full party of seven heroes, there's plenty of reason to improve alts and play with them even on other characters. Of course, that's the least of the features packed into the new update, and you may not even need the new heroes with the introduction of the group-focused Embark Beach. Allowing players transport to a multitude of locations and missions, the outpost serves as a waypoint for players to find groups and get right into the action of a mission without any trouble. It's also a hub for services, making it an ideal place for players to congregate and look for any needed assistance. That's not even touching upon the new daily quests in Pre-Searing Ascalon, the changes to the Survivor title track to make it earnable on an existing character even after that character has died, and a new Minion UI feature. In short, Guild Wars players have plenty to dance about in the new update, whether by themselves or with others. %Gallery-9135%
TUAW's Daily App: Battleheart
There are tons of great RPG apps out lately, and I'm not sure why that is -- something about the way the App Store has developed. At any rate, here's another one. Battleheart is just out this week, and it's really amazing. The game is a real-time RPG battler. There's not a lot of story or extras to this one, but the core system, in which you choose a group of heroes and send them out to battle oncoming hordes in various settings, is designed and executed very well. There are the usual RPG trappings of extra skills and better equipment, but the bonus here is the control scheme -- the cute little heroes are super easy to drag around, set up as healers or drop spells as a magic user. The graphics are polished, the sounds and music are great, and the variety of classes and their various abilities is really awesome. Unfortunately, there's not a ton of content -- the main battle mode is all there is, and while it takes a while to play through (probably more than enough for most casual players), there's no multiplayer, survival mode or any other gameplay to check out. There's no Game Center integration at all, either. Some users have reported crashes as well, and on that your mileage may vary. But all of those things can (and probably will) be patched in later. The core game is available right now for US $2.99, and it's worth every penny.
The Daily Grind: What motivates your faction choice?
Most MMOs have some sort of factional component, even if the mechanics and options aren't directly identified by a "faction" label. Whether it's heroes and villains in DC Universe Online, Alliance and Horde in World of Warcraft, or the Albion, Hibernia, and Midgard trifecta from Dark Age of Camelot, creating a character in an MMO usually requires some sort of alignment choice. Often this choice boils down to a good or evil stereotype, and while roleplayers and lore enthusiasts may argue that "the Horde isn't evil" (or similar arguments from other games and factions), the fact remains that the Horde's visual palette is filled with imagery and concepts that have signified evil throughout much of human history. In today's Daily Grind, we'd like to know why you pick particular factions, and if the visual or lore-centric baggage they carry influences your decision. Do you usually roll characters that are good? Evil? Neutral? Why? 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!
Speak live with Gods & Heroes developers on Ustream
The Telchine gods have returned to enact revenge on their Olympian conquerors with the citizens of Rome caught in the middle. It is your place to take up the mantel of protector of the empire. Battle gods and monsters to gain favor with the Roman gods and test your drive to save the citizens of your country. You may join the fight in upcoming MMO Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising. We all would like the inside scoop on what's happening in our favorite game, and it's not often that developers have an opportunity to speak directly to the players. Heatwave Interactive would like to change that with a live Ustream event today (November 30th) at 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. EST. Get your questions ready because developers want to tell you what to expect for launch in 2011. If you like what you hear, you can then sign up for the closed beta by visiting the Gods & Heroes website.
ArenaNet adding seven-hero parties, new outpost to Guild Wars
The latest ArenaNet blog post is up, bringing with it the Guild Wars War in Kryta survey results and some exciting news. One survey question regarding seven-hero parties sparked a lot of discussion in the community, and ArenaNet heard the answer loud and clear: An upcoming content update will bring the ability to fill your party with all heroes. For those of you who love grouping, the other half of this update is for you: "We're going to be adding Embark Beach-a new Zaishen outpost that will allow players to travel to all Mission outposts (that they are eligible for!) from a single location. So if you're looking to find something to do or someone to help you out, you just have to check one convenient location. Embark Beach will be included in an upcoming feature build containing some improvements for the game." Check out all of the survey results at the ArenaNet blog!
The Road to 50: A guide to filling your Guild Wars Hall of Monuments (II)
Welcome to day two of The Road to 50! After addressing minipets yesterday, I'm excited to spend today on their larger counterparts: pets and heroes. The Monument to Fellowship is so much fun to fill in my view, because it sends you to challenge missions, off-the-beaten-path quests, elite areas, and more in order to obtain everything on the list. Getting every pet required and armor for every hero in the game, in my view, is an opportunity to explore some real teamwork with your friends, guildmates, and allies while you see parts of Guild Wars that you haven't seen before. Follow along as I tell you all about how to get the full eight points in the Monument to Fellowship.
Breakfast Topic: What enemy would you turn traitor to join?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. World of Warcraft puts players on a relatively fixed path in terms of loyalties. Sure, there are some very deliberate exceptions to this -- notably the Aldor/Scryer rivalry of The Burning Crusade and the Oracles/Frenzyheart feud in Wrath -- but in general, wherever a conflict arises in the game, the decision as to what side you're going to take is made for you. The rogue trainer in Northshire might tease you with the idea that joining the Defias is a potential option for you, but in reality, that can never happen. WoW is certainly not lacking for "evil" factions one could potentially sympathize with. The aforementioned Defias, whose whole issue stems basically from getting screwed over by Onyxia's meddling, stand out as one such faction. Illidan Stormrage has long sparked controversy as to whether he was really on the side of evil, although that might be a result of his almost hopelessly confused lore. I have read suggestions that Malygos has a large (if misguided) sympathetic following. And even now, I see some already looking to figure out how to take the side of Big Bad Yet to Come, Deathwing himself. Does this bother you? Do you wish sometimes that you could break the rules and side with a faction or villain you're not supposed to? What hostile faction or enemy character, if any, would you side with, given the opportunity to do so?
EVE Evolved: Heroes of EVE
In last week's EVE Evolved, I looked at a few of EVE Online's most famous outlaws. In the game's open-ended sandbox, players are free to turn to a life of crime. Around every corner, you'll find another thief making off with someone's loot, or a pirate waiting for an unsuspecting victim to pass by. Worse still are the many scam artists and market manipulators you'll find in trade hubs like Jita, making a dishonest living at the expense of other players. But it's not all doom and gloom, and not all players are the dark, nefarious types EVE is famous for. For every low-life scammer trying to steal your hard-earned ISK, there are helpful individuals working to counteract scamming. For every war-mongering pirate preying on new players, there are hundreds of people willing to teach new players to defend themselves and stay safe. Despite all the talk of EVE's anti-social element, you'll also find a rich and diverse community, built around forums, chat channels and dozens of blogs. Programmers even spend their free time to provide the community with free tools to aid play. These are all people I would call heroes of EVE, either because they work to prevent the wrong-doings of outlaws, or because they selflessly enrich the EVE community. In this opinion piece, I look at a few of the people and groups I consider to be true heroes of EVE. Who are your heroes?
Flameseeker Chronicles: Heroes ruined Guild Wars
Oh, settle down. I'm not stating that as a fact, I'm just repeating what others have said. It's an old argument, but one that's recently come to my attention several times over the past week, so I want to take a look at the argument today. Heroes came to Guild Wars near the end of 2006 with the introduction of Nightfall. They were a huge upgrade from the much-maligned Alesia and her companions. Sure, you had to level them up, but you had as much control over their runes and insignias, skill bars, and weapons as you did your own. The addition gave players the option to add three of these customized companions, making it much easier to continue adventuring even if you couldn't get a group at the moment. It sounds perfect, right? Not everyone agrees, and it's a debate that flared back up in the past months when the possibility was raised of companions in Guild Wars 2. Hit the handy "read more" button to check out both sides of the argument.
The Daily Grind: What makes you feel like a hero?
There's always been a big to-do in MMORPGs about making you feel like a hero (and, hey, all RPGs ever). Dev interviews, particularly before release, usually include discussion about how such-and-such will make the player feel important, feel central to the story, feel... heroic. Of course, when everyone else and his or her specially trained dog or cat are doing the exact same thing, it's hard to feel like a unique snowflake in the hero crowd. While NPCs are supposedly helpless and need a dashing, daring stud or studette to champion their cause, after a while it may seem like they're more "lazy bums" than "weak innocents." Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there's something in MMOs that does, in fact, make you feel like a hero. Maybe it's not anything scripted by the developers, but instead happens out of the blue. Perhaps you're the healer who kept your raid alive, or the person who gave up a night to help out a lowbie in the guild. Maybe you saved a total stranger from annihilation, or you chained sixteen crits in a row until the bad guys were weeping for mercy. What makes you feel like a hero in MMOs?
New Going Rogue video documentary hits the City of Heroes Facebook page
Having celebrated its sixth anniversary back in April, City of Heroes is a bit of an old dog in the MMO world. But it's proving quite adept at learning new tricks, with Going Rogue bringing out a big new trick in the form of its morality system. Allowing players not only to play heroes or villains but several intermediate forms in between, the ability to change allegiance is one of the expansion's biggest selling points -- as well as being the focus of the second video documentary, available on the game's Facebook page. While the video doesn't reveal every piece of system information on changing from hero to villain or vice versa, it does talk more about the choices that go into such a shift. We've been hearing for some time that players will be making choices within the missions of Going Rogue, and it's explained here as well. It also discusses in brief how Praetoria is a framework removed from the hero-villain dichotomy of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles, allowing players to make choices and shape morality from the ground up. City of Heroes players are encouraged to take a look at the documentary and leave their comments on the page, as the developers are due to check in there throughout the day.
Hands-on: League of Legends for the Mac
Defense of the Ancients is one of the most interesting stories in all of gaming -- it was originally a player-created mod for the Warcraft III real-time strategy game, and it completely revamped the RTS game into a RPG/hack-and-slash mashup, where the player controlled a champion character that fought to turn the tide of battle on a player-vs-player map. The mod proved so popular that game companies are now creating their own official versions of it, and League of Legends is one of those -- a "DotA"-style mix of hack-and-slash gameplay combined with a few RTS elements created by Riot Games. "LoL," as players are calling it, actually has the best pedigree of all the DotA clones -- two of the mods' designers were (and still are) involved in the games' development. Now LoL is coming to the Mac -- Riot Games invited me to come and see the game this week running natively on their MacBook Pro. The game uses a free to play model, so if you're running Boot Camp, you can go and download it right now and play to your heart's content. But Riot is convinced that "there's millions of gamers out there" who want to run their game natively, and so sometime later this year, it'll be available in OS X. I got to check out the game on official Apple hardware, ask them if they had any problems porting it over, and poke them a little bit about how RTS games might work on the iPad. Hit the link below to read on.
City of Heroes: Going Rogue dev diary has a change of heart
Do you have any idea how tiring it is to be this evil all the time? It's like, we can only keep up this vault-plundering, mustache-twirling, damselnapping, puppy-kicking veneer before it gets a little long in the tooth, you know? We've long been thinking about seeing how the other half lives -- an opportunity that will soon be afforded to us by City of Heroes upcoming, massive content expansion, Going Rogue. Check out the developer's diary posted above to see the implications of the game's new alignment-switching feature, and to catch a glimpse at the new environments of Praetoria. We think it looks like a fairly renovated version of Paragon City, only with much more moral ambiguity.
3D Dot Game Heroes 'Hall of Heroes' character-sharing hub launched
Are you particularly proud of the homebrewed 3D Dot Game Heores character model you recently whipped up? You know, the one that looks like Link/Mario/Belmont/Your favorite Final Fantasy archetype? Great news -- you can now share your pixelated protagonists with other players, or simply borrow the fruits of their labors, using the recently launched "Hall of Heroes" web hub. There are only a handful of characters live on the hub right now, but they all look like they'd serve as worthy saviors of the land of Dotnia. Especially the one named "Rad Naner," which is a banana wearing sunglasses and riding a skateboard.
Interview: Greg Grunberg at the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 celebrity challenge
Lots of the celebrities at last night's Battlefield: Bad Company 2 celebrity benefit tournament didn't know much about gaming, but Greg Grunberg is the exception. Even if he can't dive deep into the differences between next-gen shooters, he at least knows the audience, having appeared on Lost and Alias and controlled minds as Matt Parkman on Heroes. He was at the benefit in West Hollywood promoting the Epilepsy Foundation (his son deals with epileptic seizures, and Grunberg has done some advocacy work on his own as well), and right before he sat down to play BFBC2 alongside Chad Ochocinco and Marshall Faulk, he sat down to chat with us. Read on to hear about what Grunny is doing for Halo: Reach, his favorite iPhone games and why he's so sure there should be one more full season of Heroes.
Are DVRs actually going to save the network TV model?
Stay tuned for the network's latest DVR strategy: acceptance. Armed with the latest Nielsen data, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox are rushing to tell advertisers that even with a set-top box and its bevy of pauses, fast forwards and 30 second skips at the ready -- we're guessing this doesn't apply to Media Center users on automated setups -- most viewers simply settle in and watch the commercials anyway. The New York Times breaks down the commercial-plus-three ratings system the networks initially opposed that could end up saving shows like Heroes from cancellation -- though a return to the old way of thinking might be worthwhile if it means an end to that show's now pitiable existence.
