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BlizzCon 2011: Opening Ceremony Liveblog
We'll be live blogging the opening ceremony at BlizzCon 2011. The start times for this liveblog is as follows: Pacific Time zone: 11:00 a.m. Mountain Time zone: 12:00 p.m. Central Time zone: 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time zone: 2:00 p.m. We're expecting a lot from this BlizzCon opening ceremony, including the Mists of Pandaria expansion, some StarCraft expansion announcement, and potentially an announcement concerning the Diablo 3 release date. Stay tuned! We'll start liveblogging soon. 10:42 a.m. - Patch 5.0 will introduce a new talent system. 10:42 a.m. - Initial reports are that the expansion will be playable at BlizzCon today. The rest of the liveblog after the break!
Massively Exclusive: WindSlayer 2 dev diary looks at melee classes
Last week, Ignited Games announced the upcoming 2-D side-scroller WindSlayer 2. This week, the title is back for more with a new developer diary that looks at the game's melee classes. Those who prefer to go wading into battle on the front lines will have three choices: the valiant Warrior, the dexterous Rogue, or the enlightened Monk. For the full details on each of these classes, head on past the cut for the full dev diary. And once you're done, don't forget to head on over to the game's official site (linked below) to register for a shot at a spot in the closed beta test.
Conquer Online is ready for kung-fu fighting
It's been a very long time since we looked into Conquer Online, but the game is approaching its next major update, dubbed "Returning Light." This update features the addition of a new playable class, the Monk, which makes up the sixth entry into the game's mix of classes. While these ascetic disciples of elemental harmony have long remained isolated from the rest of the world, the events of the upcoming patch will force Monks into combat once again, much to the benefit of players. Monks are capable of bestowing a number of beneficial effects upon party members, healing and supporting others through their elemental skills. But the class is also capable of moving into the fray via powerful martial arts, allowing players to split their time between the class functions or pick one as a specialty. The official preview for the Monk is already available, so Conquer Online players should look forward to the currently scheduled release of December 16th for the patch.
Breakfast Topic: What class would you like to see added to the game?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. Let us ponder upon classes, the very thing that defines one's playstyle the most in World of Warcraft. Whether it be the ever-gorgeous, plate-clad warrior who shouts, "I HAZ TWO ROCKET SWORDZ, UR POINT IZ INVALID," the warlock-hating mage or the mage-hating warlock, or even the druid who thinks that Woodstock was really great, we all have our preferences on what we think is the best class of them all. Yet if Blizzard has taught us anything, it is to plan for upsets or twists in class selection. Remember the great death knight massacre of 2008? Everyone and his great-grandmother's mailman had a death knight. They were easy to acquire, incredibly powerful and just a blast to play. Yet modern death knights are shells of what they once were. They play like the polar opposite of paladins now, but upon their initial release, they felt more like a battle mage class. Now, thanks to a complete revamp of the death knight class, the closest thing to a battle mage is long gone, leaving those who enjoyed the class idea from different roleplaying games feeling rather empty and disappointed, much the same way as when we discovered that the delicious cake we were promised was actually a lie. It leaves us with a curious idea, though. Considering that the idea of a battle mage in WoW is doable, could it be brought in as its own class? Or would Blizzard dare to put in a totally different class?
Exploring Eberron: Rolling the right character for you
Who are you whippersnappers? Get off my lawn or I'll blast ye into kingdom come! Shoo! I mean, howdy! Sorry, I got a little startled there. We just found out this morning that Rubi, your faithful DDO columnist, was captured by a beholder and locked away in a level 20 dungeon. While the Massively DDO guild, OnedAwesome, faithfully levels up in a rescue attempt (every Wednesday night, 9pm eastern/8pm central!), I've been drafted to keep the column going until victory is assured. Considering that a vast majority of my personal DDO resume is confined to levels 1 through 10, I have a soft spot for the newbie experience. And seeing how many fledgling dungeoneers are flocking to DDO these days, I figured I'd go back to the beginning to walk new players through the first week of the game. For you veterans out there, this would be a great time to (a) point out how much I say is completely wrong, and (b) offer up your own tips and advice in the comments section. Today, let's start with one of the most vital decisions you'll ever make in the game: rolling a character. Hit the jump and let's hope for all 20s!
Foxconn chairman 'has sought the aid of an exorcist' to stop suicides
Um, suicide is not funny. Especially when it's the eighth attempt -- this one resulting in death, sadly -- in three months by employees at a Foxconn facility in China. Yes, the very same factory we reported on last month that produces the gadgets we love so dearly. But check this little snippet from DigiTimes, translating the original Chinese language site Jinbw: "Terry Guo, chairman of the Foxconn Group, has sought the aid of an exorcist in an attempt to put an end to the recent run of negative incidents at the plant." Seriously? And here we thought that improving working conditions might better serve employees. Engadget Chinese did some digging and confirms reports that Foxconn will bring in a monk(s) to perform a religious service meant "to bring peace to employees" -- not necessarily meant to ward off evil. In other news Foxconn just announced consolidated net profits of US$568.73 million for the first quarter of 2010, up 34.8 percent on the year.
Diablo 3's female Monk designs revealed on The Jace Hall Show
In a recent segment on The Jace Hall Show, the typically secretive Blizzard dev team gave the towering host/television producer/Monolith founder a sneak peek at some of the concept art for the female iteration of Diablo 3's Monk class. While she doesn't embody what we normally imagine when we think of devout martial arts experts, she looks supremely badass. You can check out a few screengrabs from the clip on fan site BlizzPlanet, or simply watch the video posted after the jump (the segment starts at the 6:44 mark). [Via VG247]
Pandaren Brewmaster Figure now on sale
The @warcraft twitter account has been posting a few carefully taken pictures of something the past couple days, and today it's been reveled what the object is -- a Pandaren Brewmaster Figure that you can buy from the Blizzard store. The little guy is "on sale" for $50, and there are limited quantities available. Everything is first come, first serve, so if you want one I suggest getting getting it quickly. The figure is of Chen Stormstout, who left his Pandaren home world to find better ingredients to make his brew with. These figures are usually of pretty high quality, and by the looks of it this one is exceptionally detailed. It's also not a small figure. It's over 8 inches tall and 4 pounds in weight, which makes it quite a nice desk statue. Should be a good collectable for this who want it!
Dungeons and Dragons Online offers eye-catching look at Monks
Turbine released a series of beautiful screenshots yesterday showcasing the monk class in Dungeons and Dragons Online. Monks are available to Dungeons and Dragons Online VIPs (those who pay a subscription fee) or those who unlock it with Turbine points, and best suited to players with some experience. The DDO site gives a brief summary of what monks are about: "Monks use an energy called ki to perform amazing techniques in battle. Usually fighting without weapons and armor, they can assist allies or destroy enemies but take longer to master than the other melee classes." The site continues with an extensive overview of the monk's skills, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as a look at the three paths a monk can choose to follow. The path of shadow offers a more aggressive fighting style, heavier on the damage side than the healing side. The path of light, of course, offers the opposite: more party benefits and less damage over time. And finally, the two-headed heron follows the path of light and benefits its allies, but also delivers damage to enemies as a dual-wielder of monk weapons. Check out the official site for more information on the monk, and check out our gallery for a more visual look at the class. %Gallery-78063%
If Cataclysm were to include a new class, what would it be?
This morning I want to play the hypothetical game a bit and talk about what would happen if Cataclysm included a new class. Not only what it would be, but how it would fit into the overall balance of WoW. And just to be clear, there won't be a new class in Cataclysm. Numerous Blizzard employees have stated that doing one new class an expansion would be too much work (paraphrased, don't go complain to your favorite blue that this was a direct quote). The Death Knight in Wrath of the Lich King was the first class introduced to WoW, and it's inclusion in the game has had mixed reviews. Most folks agree that the class provided a great new element to play in the game, however its balance in raids and PvP is something that is constantly under the microscope. Ghostcrawler has mentioned numerous times that the Death Knight has taken up more time to balance in Wrath than any other class. This is problematic for numerous reasons, but has been able to be handled nicely by the designers and programmers (I'm sure there'll be some who disagree, however show some restraint in your disagreement).So now for the hypothetical part -- if Blizzard were to introduce a new class in Cataclysm, I would suspect that it would be the healing counterpart to the Death Knight. Mechanics of the class would probably operate similar to the Death Knight's rune system: each small heal or heal over time would be castable based on an available rune, which would in turn generate runic power for larger heals. The class would rely less on spam type heals (such as the Paladin, to some extent), and more on preventative heals (such as the Druid, to some extent).
Pandaren Monk pet has moves
MMO Champion has datamined up some video of the new Pandaren Monk vanity pet that's been floating around, and as you can see above, it's pretty darned awesome. Just like the Grunty the Murloc pet, this one comes with some fun animations, and they look terrific. Blizzard has been pretty coy about getting the Pandaren into the game, and they're teasing big here, too -- this little bear's got moves that would make the Diablo III Monk hang his head in shame.However, the question remains: how do we get it? At this point, it's just speculation and rumor -- some say it might be a special anniversary pet for people who've been subscribed all five years of the game's life, some suggest it might be part of the Cataclysm collector's edition (past CEs have had a pet in each one, including a Diablo figure in the first box), and still others suggest that the Monk will be a new pet in the upcoming Brewfest holiday. How do we get it, really? We won't know for sure until we hear it from Blizz.
Blizzard at PAX 2009 wrapup
PAX wrapped up over the weekend in Seattle, and from what we've heard of our friends' experiences over at Joystiq, it was a wild, wild time. Blizzard was there as expected, and it sounds like the setup was pretty awesome. They had all three playable demos up from BlizzCon, including the Starcraft II singleplayer game, the Diablo III monk class, and of course the Cataclysm Worgen and Goblin race starting areas. We hear that Blizzard had their GMs in attendance as well, and reader Aveiceae (whose pictures you can see in the gallery below) reports that she saw both Drysc and Bornakk there. She also says that Blizzard gave away some of their famous hand sanitizer throughout the show -- very important, especially at a gaming convention during swine flu season.Tisoi also has a report over on WoW LJ, including a few pictures of the setup on the convention floor, as well as a few (sneaky) screenshots of the Worgen and Goblin areas. He also got to meet Jeff "Vork" Lewis and Sandeep "Zaboo" Parikh of The Guild. Felicia Day wasn't there (she spent the weekend at Dragon*Con, where there was other WoW-related shenanigans going on), but as Sandeep reported on his Twitter, she wasn't needed, thanks to cosplayers. Sounds like a great time was had by all. Next year, PAX is headed out east -- we'll have to keep an eye out and see if Blizzard is going there as well.%Gallery-72105%
BlizzCon 2009: A hoard of Diablo 3 info
Blizzard's playable Diablo 3 demo at this year's BlizzCon felt like a step backwards from last year's, mostly because the Rune system was removed completely. It'll be in the final game, but since Blizzard is still working on the Skills that the Runes enhance / rely on, the company said it didn't make sense to have the Runes in this time around. Bummer. It makes sense, but we still missed the bouncing, flaming skulls the Witch Doctor once issued.Also, last year's area included a lot more dialogue, and had moodier lighting. This time we were smack dab in the middle of a giant desert, which didn't offer many chances to encounter spooky, candlelit chambers. There were a couple of dungeons you could drop down into this year, via swirling sands, but for the most part you were hoofing it around under the bright sun.%Gallery-70687%
BlizzCon 2009: Martial arts secrets of Diablo 3's Monk
When you think hardcore-fantasy, swords-and-sorcery killing machine, you think "monk," right? At BlizzCon, Diablo 3's new character class, the Monk, was unlocked, supposedly having been inspired by pen-and-paper RPGs. According to Jay Wilson, almost all of Blizzard's characters are meant to hearken back to the "golden age of RPG gaming." The Monk is designed to be a fragile, melee-based character that performs some amazingly agile moves. With skills like the "Seven-Sided Strike" and "Way of the Hundred Fists," we'd say he's stripped from a different golden age -- from the reels of 1960s and '70s Kung Fu serials. The only detail that's missing are the Bruce Lee yips.%Gallery-70687%
New Diablo III media features Monk, deserts
Hot on the heels of news that Diablo 3's new class will be the Monk, Blizzard unloaded a bunchton (that's internet-speak for "27") of new images on us. The screens not only give us a good look at some of the Monk's spells (he makes things explode, apparently), but there's also plenty of tasty concept art to ogle. All of the locales in these shots show off a desert environment; could Lut Gholein and its surrounding areas make a return in Diablo 3? Let's hope so, this time sans annoying Horadric Staff gopher quests. You know what we're saying, right? Right, guys? %Gallery-70687%
New Diablo III 'Monk' class dropped on Korean Blizzard site
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/New_Diablo_III_Class_Monk'; [Update 2:59PM – Blizzard VP Chris Metzen just confirmed the Monk during BlizzCon's opening ceremony. They've got a cinematic – surprise! – that we'll nab for you as soon as it's available. This looks like in-game footage though; it's not the normal Blizzard-quality cinematic.] While the opening BlizzCon ceremony is just minutes away, one potential secret has already been spoiled ... by Blizzard itself. The mega-developer's own Korean site revealed the above image, showing off all the way to the right ... a new Diablo 3 class. Judging by that nifty saffron-colored robe, we're guessing this is the long-rumored Monk class. More info as we gather it. (To find the screen for yourself, go to this Diablo 3 site and change the language to Korean. Voila!) [Via WoW.com] %Gallery-70687%
Significant aggro changes on the way for EQII
There's a fairly hefty set of changes to EverQuest II's hate/aggro system currently being ironed out on Test, and they aren't to everyone's liking. Due to the the complexity of the changes, developer Chris "Aeralik" Kozak has offered up a summary for players to wrap their heads around. We'll attempt to boil it down even more for you, at the cost of including some of the finer details.The problem with the aggro system begins with the fact that hate has scaled linearly as the game has progressed, and damage has scaled exponentially with gear and new skills, making it hard for designated aggro-holders to keep control of mobs. One of the changes on Test has given taunts the chance to hit critically, just like damage spells, and there will be a base and normalized amount of threat from taunt abilities.
Massively covers Dungeons and Dragons Online's Module 7
DDO's Module 7 goes live today, and boy, if you're looking for information about it, you're in the right place. Massively has been covering Module 7 since before Module 6 dropped, and just in case you missed out on any of our great coverage, it's right here for your perusing pleasure. Live at Connect '08, we provided coverage of the DDO panel, including a first look at the Monk class Turbine released in this patch. Shortly after that, we chatted with the woman herself, DDO Senior Producer Kate Paiz, on what worked well with Module 6, and everything else they were planning in Module 7 and beyond. We covered "Monk Week" and the official Turbine events leading up to the game. Not only did we provide great original coverage, but we aggregated coverage from around the 'net, including other interviews with Ms. Paiz, as well as official info drops (and did you take advantage of your chance to grab the soundtrack?) And finally, Massively's got the dungeonmaster of all Module 7 previews, including the number one reason you'll want to roll a Monk, a look at the Gary Gygax shrine and the new midlevel content, the new high level instances and bosses, and even an exclusive video preview of what you'll see in Module 7 (which you'll find right after the break). We critted on the coverage of this new patch (going live today), and you get to be the one to claim all the loot. Before you sign in and check out Module 7 today, be sure to check all the links above and read about it here.%Gallery-23551%
D&DO Module 7: The Monk
When we first sign on to the special Demo server Turbine had set up to show us Module 7, we found that they'd created a level 16 Monk for us to play with. The Monk class has been in the pen-and-paper game for a long time, but DDO is introducing them with Module 7 as the tenth player class in the game.As we signed in and got set up, the folks from Turbine introduced themselves: Kate Paiz (who we've spoken with before) is the game's senior producer, and Stephen Muray, lead systems designer, and Jesse Smith, a content designer on the game, also joined us as well (Turbine's Director of Communications, Adam Mersky, also spoke up at the end of the session). As the screen loaded up, Paiz said that with the design of the Monk, they wanted to create a class that played significantly differently from anything they tried before. All of D&DO's combat is real-time (as in, you must press a button to attack, rather than just choosing a target), and the Monk's new abilities add a twist to this system. Basically, the Monk has four different stances (Ocean, Mountain, Wind and Sun -- the developers said they drew a lot of the Monk's lore from Dungeons and Dragons' Oriental Adventures supplement book), and each tweaks his or her abilities and attacks -- during most of the playtest, we used the Sun stance to try and do more damage, though the designers said that depending on how the Monk is specced, he would also be able to tank and or do some self heals and group buffs as the class trained up. All of the Monk's abilities are governed by Ki energy, which can be tseen in a meter below the health bar, and is simply earned by attacking. Muray mentioned that this was to counterweight the pen-and-paper Monk's "times-per-day" abilities -- in pen-and-paper D&D, many Monk abilities can only be performed once or twice a day, and while Ki energy still lets players perform Monk tricks much more often, they are still kept limited enough that choosing what abilities you use your Ki on is very important. "Did you just Abundant Leap across that gap? Nice!" But one of those abilities stands above the rest: Abundant Leap (a variant, we were told of Dimension Door in the pen-and-paper game). Starting around level 10 or 11, the Monk can perform a move (with a low cooldown costing a very low amoung of Ki) that pushes them forward in space with a quick jump -- as you hit the ability, the screen blurs, the Monk leans forward, and suddenly you're about 15 yards ahead of where you last stood. Abundant Leap was, during our session, the most fun thing to do as a Monk -- even in noncombat situations (and perhaps especially in noncombat situations), we were leaping and jumping as much as we could. Once, to cross a gap, we jumped, in midair hit the leap ability, and landed gracefully on the other side. It's a minor ability in the overall scheme of things, but Abundant Leap, almost more than any of the other moves we used, makes you feel like a Monk.Overall, the class seems fairly balanced, and Paiz said that they had put a lot of time trying to keep the class not only faithful to the pen-and-paper version, but also a dynamic part of the MMO environment. It should definitely be a fun reroll for everyone playing DDO, and for the players who level it all the way up, the later abilities should offer a lot of interesting twists on what the team has created in the game.After loading the game and playing with the new class for a bit, our game began in sight of a peaceful shrine to one of D&D's greatest heroes.Click here to continue the preview...
Massively previews Dungeons & Dragons Online's Module 7
Dungeons & Dragons Online continues to hold their own in a quickly-growing MMO world. When DDO first showed up as a licensed MMO of the grandaddy of roleplaying games, their main goal was just to meet expectations -- so many people have been a fan of the pen-and-paper game for so long that putting it into MMO form was no easy task. But since release, the DDO team has made improvement after improvement, and added so much content to the game that it's moved beyond the license to stand on its own as a very singular kind of MMO.Massively got a chance to sit down with the team and take a look at the latest update, Module 7, due out on June 3, and currently in public testing. In addition to some extended playtime with the new Monk class, we got to see updates to the lower level Three Barrel Cove area, a shrine to recently passed-on D&D creator Gary Gygax, and the new raid area under the destroyed Marketplace tent, as well as a few new monsters and raid bosses that can be found down there.To start your tour through Module 7, just roll a d20 and click on through. To jump to any section of the walkthrough (including directly to our exclusive video preview, if that's what you're looking for), hit the links after the break.%Gallery-23551%
