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SMITE tournament prize pool reaches $1M
When I was just a lad, my father sat me on his knee and said, "Son, there are big bucks in them MOBAs, so get a-playin'!" Unfortunately, I did not heed his advice, and as such I will not be eligable to win a chunk of the seven-digit prize pool that SMITE is offering. Hi-Rez announced yesterday that the SMITE World Championship prize pool is up to $1,000,000 thanks to community contributions. SMITE has been raising funds for the tournament by selling special Odyssey items in the game; the studio will continue to do so for the next 14 weeks, so the prize pool could potentially go even higher. The SMITE World Championship will take place in Atlanta, Georgia, from January 9th through the 11th, 2015.
League of Legends reimagines Sion, the undead juggernaut
A new and terrifying Sion is stomping across lanes in League of Legends lately, thanks to a long-overdue "reimagining" and re-release. Riot Games was pretty harsh in its post-mortem of the old version, saying, "Old Sion had countless problems: He was a mage with an ax, he'd end up with two redundant abilities regardless of how he built, his model had aged horribly, and he had some pretty... interesting voiceover." The team decided to rebuild him to fit his profile as an unstoppable undead warrior. The new Sion is tanky with powerful attacks that can be deployed dupliciously in order to mess with the reflexes of opponents. You can check out Sion's champion spotlight video after the jump.
Infinite Crisis reveals Stargirl, complete with pink stars
Turbine has today previewed Infinite Crisis' latest playable MOBA hero, the youthful Stargirl, who fell into her sidekick role after discovering and donning her stepfather's old costume. In her heroic form, she's a blaster who wields a glowing staff to damage and crowd control enemies. Her skills include a cutesy buff called Family Heirlooms and a even-more-cutesy nuke that beams pink stars at her enemies; her ultimate, however, is a powerful nuke, slow, debuff, and shield all in one. Stargirl goes live on October 15th. We've included new screenies and her intro video below.
The Stream Team: Dota 2's 6.82 madness
The last few months in Dota 2 have come with a sense of stagnation. The professional and high-tier play meta, on display most prominently in this year's $11 million International championship, was in a rut. Something had to change before players grew bored or frustrated with facing the same three or four team strategies. Last week, Valve delivered an earthquake of a content patch, providing a ridiculously huge update that changed items, heroes, abilities, game modes, core mechanics, and even the map itself. For the next few months, pros and casuals alike must sift through the wreckage and try to re-optimize how they play. Tune in tonight as Massively's Mike Foster takes one of Dota's newly-reworked heroes for a spin and tries to make sense of the post-6.82 carnage. The action begins at 7:00 p.m. EDT. Game: Dota 2 Host: Mike Foster Date: Wednesday, October 1st, 2014 Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT Enjoy our Stream Team video below.
SMITE's new god, Sylvanus, rocks a treant mount
SMITE's patch notes earlier this week whispered of Sylvanus, Keeper of the Wild, and today, the new god has been officially revealed in a brand-new video. The antlered, Pan-like god is a protector of nature and woodland creatures who rides around on a treant because he can. Wisp-based regens, tree-themed roots, and AoE poisons serve to bolster his teammates and annoy his enemies. Enjoy the first look at Sylvanus below. [Thanks, Sorenthaz!]
Infinite Crisis recruits Nightmare Robin and Atomic Joker
An absolutely massive update for Infinite Crisis has landed, boasting over 6,000 changes and tweaks, not to mention the addition of a pair of new champions: Nightmare Robin and Atomic Joker. Nightmare Robin is actually Bruce Wayne's son Damian, who got infected with the vampiric curse and is a little miffed at being one of the undead. At least he has two large knives and a lot of bleeding-edge training to compensate. Atomic Joker is a bit more lighthearted, what with being a head in a jar who is trying to rebuild civilization in his image. The September release overhauled the launcher, improved the new player experience, polished many of the map visuals, tweaked animations, and added a Crime Alley map where champions can test out skills against the computer. You can check out Atomic Joker and Nightmare Robin in the gallery below and in the videos after the break.
League of Legends introduces Ranked Restrictions for toxic players
League of Legends is a really popular game, but it also has a pretty noxious community reputation. That's something that's on the forefront of the mind of the Riot Games team, and it's being addressed with the latest patch. Players voted down for negative behavior are already operating under a chat restriction, requiring them to play a certain number of games before they can speak in the game again. Now those players will see another restriction, though: the inability to access ranked play. Rank restricted players will have a certain number of games that they must play before they can return to queueing for ranked matches just like with chat restrictions. Players who are deeply into negative territory and rank restricted at the end of a given competitive season will also be ineligible for receiving special rewards for ranked play, meaning that poor sportsmanship doesn't pay at any level of the game. While there are potential abuses for the system, it's an obvious effort to make the play experience on all levels a more positive one for players.
Get Imagine Dragons' League of Legends song for free
League of Legends has an official song for its 2014 World Championship, and you can get it for free today. The song is "Warriors" by the band Imagine Dragons. "To kick off the start of the action, we set out to craft a war cry to rally behind in a creative collaboration with Imagine Dragons," Riot posted on its site. "Whether you're a solo queue warrior or fighting off the LCS jitters –- every moment counts." The MP3 is available for free on the site, but if you want the full animated music video, all you have to do is hit the jump below.
Battleborn and the rise of the friendly shooter
"We are absolutely, deliberately targeting the idea that we want a game that people can just pick up and play," says John Mulkey, design director on Gearbox's new shooter, Battleborn (PS4, Xbox One, PC). His team's latest design, which favors collaboration, community input and a heavy focus on testing and tuning, couldn't be more different from the cult classic he built levels for – years ago. Just how much community input and playtesting went into No One Lives Forever anyway, I ask Mulkey. "Oh, god," he says, briefly thrust back into a previous life. "None." Propelled chiefly by the strength of its clever vision, a game like No One Lives Forever seems to be an outlier now. It was a game made without a steady stream of analytics, feedback and pushback, though meant to be consumed more succinctly, and for what was then a much smaller audience. "A game like this, we hope, it's not just this game that hits and fades away," says Scott Kester, the man in charge of Battleborn's look. "We want this to go. We want to keep making it."
Grimoire asks for funding to put FPS wizard multiplayer in your hands
You've played pretty much every first-person shooter that there is, but have you done a multiplayer FPS where there are no soldiers but wizards and no guns but fast-flung magic spells? This unusual bent on the formula is the basis for Grimoire, which has just begun a crowdfunding campaign. According to the Kickstarter description, "Grimoire is a multiplayer mage FPS with MOBA-style abilities that puts the player in control of devastating magic." Players can fight from first- or third-person views and take on the role of one of 10 wizard classes. Grimoire's been in development for a year, is currently being voted for on Steam Greenlight, and even has a combat preview demo that you can download and try right now. The makers said that the game's had "practically no budget" up this point, which is why they're looking to raise $42,000 to improve what's already been made. The soundtrack is being composed by Pirates of the Caribbean Online vet Marcus Zuhr. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
Here's a League of Legends Ascension gameplay preview vid
The League of Legends YouTube channel dropped a new gameplay preview video earlier today. It's called Ascension - Gameplay Preview, naturally, and it's one-minute-and-48-seconds worth of footage from LoL's latest featured game mode. You can view the clip after the cut and you can learn more about the game mode at the official website.
Kukulkan, Serpent of the Nine Winds slithers into SMITE
We really wish that the Mayans were around today to ask why they would worship a giant flying snake instead of freaking out because, well, giant flying snake. It's probably a good thing that Mr. Kukulkan, Serpent of the Nine Winds, is on the side of the playerbase in SMITE as the newest god in the game's pantheon. Kukulkan isn't actually a new character for the game but a reworked Ao Kuang (who has been temporarily retired). While Kukulkan enjoys a new look, the abilities transferred over from Ao Kuang remain the same. Players who previously owned Ao Kuang will see that character transform into Kukulkan instead. We've got the full god reveal video after the break, so welcome in your newest nightmare and ally! [Thanks to Sorenthaz for the tip!]
Hear snippets of Chance Thomas' Dota 2 score
Composer Chance Thomas has revealed his latest project: creating a Compendium score for Dota 2. In a new behind-the-scenes video, you can see Thomas conducting a choir and orchestra as they perform snippets of various tracks for the popular MOBA. Thomas previously worked on MMOs such as Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online. You can watch the Dota 2 soundtrack video after the jump!
Riot Games kicks off e-sports documentary
Want to know more about e-sports without all of the "watching e-sports" that it would otherwise entail? That's the purpose behind a new documentary being assembled by Riot Games. Road to Worlds is all about tracking the path of professional League of Legends players as they fight through the championships, culminating in a shot at the top prize at Worlds. The first episode is available past the cut and runs for about 25 minutes, exploring the origins of several competitive teams and how players first broke into the industry. If you want a deeper look at the culture, or if you're already a big fan of e-sports and want to watch more about them, jump on past the break. The remaining portions of the documentary will be posted later this month, on September 12th and 15th.
That Witcher MOBA is now in closed beta on Android
You know, a Witcher MOBA ranks right up there with Upset Stomach Simulator 2015 on the list of games I'll never play. Your mileage may vary, though, so if you're into MOBAs and you're into all things Geralt, you should know that The Witcher Battle Arena has launched its Android closed beta. "Designed with fairness in mind, the game features no pay-to-win elements and allows players to unlock every piece of in-game content via gameplay," says a developer posting sussed out by Joystiq. "Closed Beta focuses on balancing gameplay, fixing potential netcode issues, and further refining in-game features."
BlizzCon offers up virtual tickets
If you really want to check out BlizzCon but can't quite manage a flight out to California, a solution is available. Virtual tickets are now available from Blizzard for $39.99, allowing you to watch the panels, the competitions, and the events live from the comfort of your own home. Sure, you won't get to actually be packed in the convention hall, but this way no one cares whether you're wearing pants or not, so you even come out ahead. Purchasing a virtual ticket will give you access to bonus in-game goods for World of Warcraft, Diablo III, StarCraft II, Heroes of the Storm, and Hearthstone, although the details are not yet available. All of the streams are also available in high definition and can be re-watched, so you needn't worry about missing something. If you've already purchased a physical ticket, you still have access to a virtual ticket as well, so you can still take advantage of the streaming. Everyone who wants to attend can at least get something like that experience.
League of Legends moves beyond its own lore
What are your current thoughts about the storytelling in League of Legends? Yes, it's entirely acceptable to respond to that question with a cocked eyebrow and a confused expression. A new developer blog by Tommy Gnox addresses precisely that, explaining that from the beginning, the narrative side of the game has always focused around creating a justification for how the game works. That's all well and good, but it winds up not creating a great deal of space for any exploration of stories beyond the game itself. Gnox goes on to lay out a new plan for the game's storytelling in the future, explaining that there will no longer be a perfect one-to-one correspondence between the game and the lore. While older elements will remain in place, some of them will be allowed to fall by the wayside in favor of more interesting stories and character perspectives. If you've got an investment in the game's world and characters, check out the full blog for more information.
Ask Massively: Destiny is not the boss of me
Bungie's Destiny launches next week, and since it is by most appearances an MMO (or possibly a fragrance), we've been covering it, albeit lightly since our primary audience is not a console-only audience. But hasn't Bungie said that Destiny isn't an MMO? That was Massively reader icnoevil's primary objection to our coverage: So if the devs themselves have said the game is not an MMO, why does it keep showing up on this site? There's a little thing I repeat to myself every once in a while when studio reps are being pushy about our coverage: I don't work for them. I work for Joystiq.
Heroes of the Storm is late to the MOBA party, but Blizzard isn't worried
Blizzard's upcoming MOBA, Heroes of the Storm, has a lengthy development history. Officially, development on the game began in 2010. The full story however, goes back to 2002, with the release of Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos and a mod called "Defense of the Ancients" (DOTA). If that acronym sounds familiar, it's probably because it's also the name of Valve's popular game, Dota 2. If you're confused on the capitalization, the former is an acronym while the latter doesn't stand for anything. As for why Valve would use the name of a mod created for a competing company's game and why Blizzard would let go of the name that kickstarted a genre worth hundreds of millions of dollars well ... there's a story there, too.
Heroes of the Storm gave me a green thumb (and tentacles)
Heroes of the Storm (previously known as Blizzard All-Stars, previously known as Blizzard DOTA) makes small changes to the MOBA standard of 5v5, three-lane-style gameplay that add up to create something that feels wholly fresh. The development team at Blizzard has done away with the item shop, there's no gold to be farmed, characters ride mounts instead of purchasing boots, leveling up happens as a team rather than individually, neutral monsters help push a lane instead of dying when defeated, etc. However, out of all the changes Heroes brings to the genre, I found myself most drawn to the way the game handles having multiple maps. In-game, these maps are referred to as "Battle Grounds," and though that may sound like a minor distinction intended to sell the "we're different!" angle of the game, I'm okay with changing up the nomenclature.
