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Wings Over Atreia: Shakespeare in Aion
OK, OK, maybe Shakespeare is a bit melodramatic, but the idea of taking on a role and playing it out on a stage is not a foreign idea -- even in Aion. It just so happens that this stage is not under your feet but in virtual space instead. Besides, I happen to love Shakespeare, so props to me for mentioning him in a gaming column! Now, I am the first to admit that NCsoft doesn't make it easy for a gamer to roleplay in Aion; there are scant few tools to support this style of play. But that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Despite this dearth, there is in fact a whole community comprised of legions both large and small as well as individuals. These players use personal connections and a player-created chat channel in-game as well as external tools such as the Aion Roleplayers website to bind themselves together and support the community as a whole. So what exactly is roleplay, and how viable is it in the world of Atreia? Exit stage left (past the cut) to define RP, debunk some RP myths, and explore RP in general Aion.
Wings Over Atreia: All's fayre in vanity and war
This past week in Aion saw an event that I hope marks a new trend. It wasn't so much the actual event that got me excited as the fact that NCsoft jumped in and created a small, personal-type event that involved players on more than a "go kill X mob 20 times for a neat gift" level. It had personal GM interaction and invited participation from the community, showcasing creativity and even roleplay. So what exactly was this event that made me sit up and take notice? The Vanity Fayre Season One. Yes folks, it was a fashion show! OK, OK -- I see some of you rolling your eyes over there! It may be just a fashion show on the surface -- and I admit, I wouldn't normally be one to participate in said event (possibly because my toon would rather be skinning some furbacks than be caught in a dress) -- but that doesn't stop me from whole-heartedly cheering that an event transpired and giving my support to it. See, the real kicker is that this wasn't just a player-created event; it was a GM-hosted affair. A GM, as in... one was actually there and interacting with players! You have to admit, that's more rare than a Trioran greatsword drop! A portent of things to come? Only time will tell, but sashay across the cut to get all the details of this event and explore the dream of more live GM interaction in Aion.
EVE's incursions go live on Tuesday, Sansha events to follow
The first two stages of EVE Online's new Incursion expansion were released in November and December, bringing us some much-needed UI fixes and removing learning skills from the game. Citing a commitment to polishing the expansion's main features before publishing them, CCP delayed most of the expansion until a third major patch. Scheduled for release on Tuesday, January 18th, the third phase of Incursion will include the extremely impressive new Incarna character builder and periodic Sansha invasions into constellations across EVE. In a new devblog, CCP has revealed that the Sansha incursions will be starting with some well-deserved build-up events. In previous expansions, new content was simply present as soon as players logged in, with little more than a few lines in the patch notes and a devblog or two to describe the new additions. The fact that the incursions are being heralded in with live events is sure to be popular with players, and it may represent a change in the way CCP delivers new major features. When the final Incursion patch goes live on Tuesday, players may begin to see some odd occurrences that seem very out of place. Events will build up to Sansha's Nation inevitably beginning its crusade against all the systems of New Eden and the incursions going into full swing.
Dark Age of Camelot keeps its eyes firmly fixed on RvR for 2011
"Realm vs. Realm combat is what keeps you here year after year," Stuart Zissu concludes in the Dark Age of Camelot's January newsletter. Because of this fact, Zissu reassures players that Mythic is firmly committed to strengthening and focusing on DAoC's RvR in 2011. Zissu first addresses a number of important issues that the team is tackling, such as lag ghosting. Realm abilities are also being adjusted to include several additional levels. While these new levels won't add to the overall strength of the abilities, they do allow players to fine-tune just how much (or little) of these abilities they want to have. A few of the realm abilities will be improved on a case-by-case basis, however. He also highlights the next upcoming live event, which will revolve around the return of demonic invasions. Those wacky demons -- like frat boys out of control, they are! You can read the full newsletter over on the Camelot Herald.
E-ON Magazine issue 21 round-up
We regularly spend money on our favourite MMOs, be it in the form of a monthly subscription fee or a microtransaction purchase. We often spend more time and money on our favourite online retreats than we spend on other hobbies, and yet few MMOs have their own dedicated magazine the way other hobbies do. EVE Online players are fortunate enough to have the quarterly EVE magazine E-ON to spread out across their coffee tables. Produced by MMM Publishing, E-ON is guaranteed to be 100% EVE from cover to cover. Even the advertisements in it are for EVE corporations and services rather than paid ads for other games. I've been slowly reading my way through Issue 21 since it popped through my letterbox and have definitely enjoyed it. This issue focuses on live events and the upcoming Incursion expansion, with a special feature on EVE's annual fanfest event in Iceland. The issue also contains guides to faction warfare militia fleets, EVE's various communication tools and the first of a series on Drones. Interviews this time around include CCP's video producer Stevie Ward and Technical Director in the fight against lag, Derek Wise. As usual, the magazine contains the latest war reports from nullsec, an awesome new piece of EVE fiction and the impressive layouts and graphics that readers have come to expect. Skip past the cut for a breakdown of what you can expect from E-ON issue 21 and my impressions of the issue.
The Rikti return to City of Heroes
If you've played City of Heroes, you know who the Rikti are -- the dangerous race from beyond our dimension who invaded and nearly destroyed Paragon City. Over time they've slowly become less of a threat, but they've never truly left, and amidst all the talk of Praetorian invasion they've decided to remind heroes and villains alike who they're dealing with. That's right, it's time to get ready for another brawl for the fate of humanity as the full-scale Rikti Invasion returns to the live servers. Paragon Studios has announced that the invasion will commence at 9:00 a.m. PDT on November 4th and last until midnight PDT on November 7th, giving players ample time to take part in the battle against the invaders. While lesser invasions have happened from time to time, the full-scale invasion has been on hiatus for a while, but it remains one of the more popular server events. And if you're a new player to City of Heroes, it's your chance to see one of the biggest enemy groups in the game face-to-face. Fair warning, however -- despite what the header might suggest, most of the Rikti do not simply wish to dance at the tailor.
Wings Over Atreia: Heat wave
Just when summer gave way to autumn in the northern hemisphere, spring slipped away from Atreia and has been replaced by a sizzling summer. Commemorating the release of Aion's most recent expansion this month, NCsoft has launched a live player event called Scorching Heat, which heralds the onset of summer on the lands of Atreia and offers Daeva a plethora of goodies throughout the month-long event simply for being logged into the game. From Wednesday, September 15th until Wednesday, October 13th, Daevas can acquire summer-themed rewards such as bathing suits, diving gear, candy that transforms them into a giant Inquin, sunglasses, and beach hats, as well as items that are useful within the game such as platinum, gold, and silver coins. Even more significantly, unlike past events in which rewards were one-per-account or soulbound, this event awards items that can be openly traded. Whether you are a fluff-lover or not, this fact alone is money in (or out of) the bank; fortunes are being made or lost on swimwear in the open market, as those who don't care so much about the fluff charge obscene amounts of kinah to sell it to those who do. However, just as some features to this new event have Deavas smiling into their ice-cold mela juice, others have them cursing. For instance, excessive server lag can be attributed directly to this event, as players remain logged in whether they are playing the game or not. So overall, are Daevas enjoying the scorching heat? Or just getting burned? Swim past the cut and check out the ins and outs of Aion's latest live event.
Vanguard celebrates with the Telon Faire
Are you new to Vanguard: Saga of Heroes? Are you a veteran of the game who just wants to get out of the cave for a while? Why not join your fellow players for an evening of jousting, dueling, parleying (diplomacy), hall-decorating contests, boat races, or a crafting bazaar? Thanks to the members of the Impact guild -- who are taking over where the Shadowfire guild left off -- you can meet fellow members of the community while possibly earning some cool prizes! The event is better every time they host it, this being the seventh. It's also a good sign that, despite server mergers, tiny development teams, and three years of forum drama, there are always community members willing to step up to do the work required for such an event. The Impact guild also hosts Newbie Nights every other week. As for the Telon Faire, it starts this Saturday, September 18th, at 4 p.m. EDT and runs until the griffins come home. Head to Aghram to join in the activities! Support them -- stop by, say hello, or give a donation. After all, prizes will be handed out mostly in cold, hard cash that players can really use. So, if you're new, or want to help out some new players, watch for the announcement and head for Aghram!
The Game Archaeologist and the Quest for Camelot: Interview with Mythic
After last week's expedition into the dark Dark Age of Camelot, the Game Archaeologist uncovered the mightiest weapon of them all: the Hammer of Nostalgia. The hammer may be battle-worn, but it has never seen better days. Everywhere it strikes, fond memories of epic keep battles surface, and former players feel compelled to sign up for another tour of duty. The Game Archaeologist proceeded to take the hammer back to its makers, the sweat-stained smithies at Mythic Entertainment (now BioWare Mythic), to see whether they thought there was any magic left in the game. Two burly men put down their steel tools and stepped forward to testify, and their names were Colin of the Hicks and Jeff "Soulstriker" Hickman. The air became thick with memories as the duo recalled the early days of the hammer's history, when players were initially adding to its strength with each victory and each crushing defeat. Pull up a stool to hear their tale, and when you are done, send in your own favorite DAoC memories (100 words max, please) to justin@massively.com for next week's column!
Ultima Online's Call to Arms bringing back live events
Ready to take a trip down MMO memory lane? BioWare Mythic has your ticket to adventure in the form of Ultima Online's new Call to Arms event. Players signing up for new (non-trial) accounts will be rewarded with new-player tokens that grant 20,000 gold, skill gain boosts, and premium armor and weapons. Veteran players aren't left out in the cold either, as advanced character token templates have been updated, and there's also the prospect of increased skill advancement when partying with new players. Veterans and newbies alike can also pick up the latest Ultima Online expansion, Stygian Abyss, for a new lower price. PvP arena gameplay also makes its first appearance in the long-running MMORPG, as players can now engage in one-on-one duels in two new arenas. Finally, one of the staples of classic Ultima Online gameplay is making a comeback in the form of live events. Gamemasters will be leading in-game events and story arcs as well as re-introducing characters from the game's past, all centering around the town of Magincia.
Massively's Vanguard group smushes spiders, moves on to bigger things
Recently, we started a static group for Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, and since then we have made our way off of the Isle of the Dawn, the newbie zone. We started out killing hobgoblins and facing down fire demons, made our way through the misty waters of a swamp, and moved on to flying a group of pegasi into the firey Hell of the Temple of the Ancients. (OK, more like "laggy Hell," but they have fixed that issue since then.) I ran through most of the Isle's content alone before, so revisiting it in a full group was such a pleasure. Well, we fight on! We met on Monday to conquer the Jade Depths: essentially a giant spider-infested system of caves, going through such tribulations as becoming impregnated with arachnid larvae, digging through piles of bones, and using magical portals. All was spooky -- very spooky. We are going to meet up next Monday, the 2nd of August, to take a swipe at the Vault of Heroes. While it might be old, take a look at this entry from Jaye over at Journeys with Jaye to give you an idea of what lies in store! Here is a list of quests in the zone, as well. Be between the levels of 11-14, grab your best armor, and meet us at 9 p.m. EDT (8 p.m. CDT) in Veskal's Exchange. Contact Rikoo Rakoo, Burtimus or Massively Lee for a guild invite! Hopefully this time the larval-impregnation will be kept to a minimum.
Wasteland Diaries: The end
When I first heard about Fallen Earth, the first thing that piqued my interest was the post-apocalyptic setting. The second thing was the FPS-style gameplay and the third thing was the factional PvP. I was delivered the setting in spades; I got a good, healthy dose of FPS action. I will admit, I got a good deal of PvP as well, but not much of it was factionally driven. The understanding I had of what to expect when I hit max level was enforcers and CHOTA squaring off for control of a town, slugging it out for hours on end. But in reality I got sporadic random battles or clan warfare. PvP was supposed to be the endgame material. At least that was the impression that I got. In this post I will look at the current state of Fallen Earth's endgame, and what we might expect to change from the information garnered from the recent State of the Game. Many people aren't sure what to do in the game once they hit the level cap. After the cut I will take a look at the state of Fallen Earth's endgame and where I expect it to go given the recent announcements.
EVE's Sansha live event takes an interesting turn
On the 11th of May, CCP announced that they'd be bringing live events back to EVE Online. Later that day, the first event was set in motion with the apparent leak of private CONCORD police documents into the hands of players. The documents hinted at a Sansha NPC military build-up, and suggested that Sansha's Nation was behind the reported abduction of a Ducia Foundry expedition team. Events rapidly escalated, with players breaking the news that Sansha fleets had begun attacking the populated worlds of the four empires and abducting citizens in the tens of thousands. The most worrying part was that the navies of the four empires were unable to respond in time as the Sansha fleets were using wormholes to enter their target systems. During the first few days of the event, locator agent traces on key Sansha slave actors between attacks revealed their presence in a system named 3-CE1R. This was quickly written off by many EVE players as a roleplaying inconsistency as that system is within the Jove Empire. Jove space is currently unreachable as the mysterious and technologically advanced race decided long ago to cut the stargate connections between their empire and the rest of New Eden. When random wormholes through space began spawning after the Seylinn disaster, none appeared to connect to Jove space. This led players to believe that the Jove Directorate possessed some form of control over wormhole formation, able to at least block it from occurring in their systems. Skip past the cut to read the startling revelations recently made in this epic storyline arc.
EVE Evolved: Sansha abduction live event
On Tuesday, CCP announced that the Tyrannis expansion heralded the rebirth of live events in EVE Online. No sooner had the post gone live than the planned events began to seriously kick off in-game. It all began when classified CONCORD documents were inadvertently leaked to the capsuleer community. Code-named "ISHAEKA", the documents revealed that a CONCORD task-force had been monitoring recent Sansha military build-up in their home region of Stain. Since then, Sansha fleets have been spotted emerging from wormholes and abducting citizens from the colonised planets of New Eden, leading to some huge clashes with players. In this lore-packed article, I look at the story behind EVE's Sansha abduction event, how you can get involved in some of the epic battles and what could be improved in future events.
EVE Online brings back live events with Tyrannis
Read that title for a second. No, you're not dreaming and you haven't stepped into a time machine and emerged on April 1st. EVE Online is finally bringing back live in-game events that players can participate in. Any player old enough to have participated in EVE's live events should be as giddy in their seats as I am right about now. In years gone by, CCP ran short sequences of events that pushed an important storyline arc in the game's fiction. Developers would take on the roles of key figures in the story, acting their part according to a guideline script. The idea that if you were in the right place at the right time you could become embroiled in a terrorist plot or find yourself in the midst of an epic battle between NPC factions was as intoxicating back in 2005 as it is today. This is sure to be a huge boost not just for EVE's role-playing community but for the everyday player that wants to get involved in the great stories of New Eden. Skip past the cut for more details.
Tales of Pirates II sets sail for closed beta tonight
If ye be lookin' for a brightly-colored adventure to set sail on, then listen up! IGG's new title Tales of Pirates II is set to launch into closed beta tonight, and they're looking for more players to jump in and get to adventurin'! While it is technically a closed beta, they've opened it up so that anyone curious will be able to get a code and start tonight at 10pm Eastern when they start the game up. They've also stated that characters from the closed beta won't be wiped when the game officially goes live. As an incentive for jumping in and helping them test the game early, everyone who plays between 10PM Eastern tonight and 10PM Eastern tomorrow will be granted a 3x experience multiplier for every monster killed. There will also be a GM event at 11PM Eastern tonight where players can win prizes, a "naked" run scheduled for the 13th, and even more live-event craziness in the days to come. We've embedded a shiny new Tales of Pirates II trailer for you behind the break if you'd like to find out more before you jump in. But with all the landlubbin' events planned over the next few days, it sounds like a good time to start playin' if ye be plannin' to!
Anti-Aliased: History of the world, part one
So, besides the Mel Brooks reference in the title, what do I have in store for you this time? Well, in short, I have an idea. Nay, I have an inspiration. Plus, I have a story to boot, so it's really a two for one deal this week in my column. You better read fast, for this deal won't last long! The one thing that many MMORPGs completely miss is making the player character feel triumphant and heroic. When making the conversion from roleplaying game to online roleplaying game, we frequently miss out on the one thing that makes pen and paper RPGs so unique: a history. This week in Anti-Aliased, I really want to cover the concept of history as it pertains to MMORPGs, and make the appeal that more MMOs need to invest in a persistent storyline in addition to the standard canned quests that we already utilize in every game under the sun.
The Daemon Moon rises over WAR
"Another lovely day begins for ghosts and ghouls with greenish skin, so close your eyes and you will find that you've arrived in Frightenstein!" With Halloween a few short weeks away, Mythic just treated us to a sneak peek of their upcoming Chaos-themed Live Event called Daemon Moon Rising. If you thought they were going to simply dust off last year's Halloween event, Witching Night, the trick's on you! Okay; no more lame puns, we promise. Warhammer Online's monthly events are something to behold because they're usually done very well and bring some diversity to the otherwise singular purpose of stomping your enemy on the battlefield. We think Live Events are the epitome of horizontal expansion. From October 23 to November 2, players will put on a number of spooky masks that grant special abilities and complete their event checklists. Of special note is the Daemonball Rally RvR public quest. Think of it as rugby... with decapitation. They're also opening up the Highpass Cemetary scenario to all tiers. You can check out the official video podcast here with all the (pumpkin) spicy details. Oops, we couldn't resist!
Warhammer shows off its birthday suit (including Wild Hunt video walkthrough)
Let the celebrations begin! Warhammer Online is about to reach its first anniversary and Mythic is throwing a huge party. You remember those great birthday parties when you were a kid; the ones with all the fun games and phat loot (bags)? They seem to be aiming for something like that with all kinds of games and fun loot being liberally doled out.First, you have the Wild Hunt (see a video walkthrough after the cut) starting today. This weeklong Live Event introduces RvR PQs, a list of themed tasks, and a special limited time dungeon available in each tier. This will be followed up by a few special scenario weekends, including Mourkain Temple, Gates of Ekrund, and Temple of Isha. All players will receive celebratory items in their mailbox and veteran players (those who have held an active subscription since launch) will receive an extra special treat. Finally, all players will drop goodies like fireworks, exploding stout, and other limited time items.One year really is a hallmark, and while WAR may have had its ups and downs over the past twelve months like any MMO experiencing growing pains, we'd really like to wish them all the best. Even if you don't have an account, you can probably join in the festivities with a free 10-day trial.
A Wild Hunt leads to Warhammer's one year anniversary
What happens when you don't appease a god in the Warhammer Online universe? They get angry -- very, very angry. And then they smash things. Unfortunately, it appears as though the High Elves have been too focused on the RvR campaign to properly honour Kurnous with their annual sacred hunt and it has greatly displeased the God of the Hunt and Lord of the Beasts. His retaliation sets the stage for a new Live Event called Wild Hunt, which releases August 31, 2009 and leads into the game's first anniversary.Mythic just released Grab Bag no. 21, which is full of Hunty goodness. Players will be granted special access to a new dungeon called Hunter's Vale for one week. This dungeon is accessed from RvR areas and is not warded, which puts the tier 4 version on par with Bastion Stair. Each tier will get its own version and lower level players will even be bolstered once inside so they can contribute.A lot of effort goes into the game's monthly Live Events and they seem to be quite a hit with players. Some of the events will be annual, like the Wild Hunt and Night of Murder and some of them will be unique and introduce game-changing content to the world (e.g., Rise of the Tomb Kings and Bitter Rivals). It doesn't appear as though Mythic will be letting up any time soon.
