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Final Fantasy XIV teasing players with a rideable goobbue
Every so often, there are pieces of information put out that are transparently false, stories so insane you know they simply must be fabricated... like the idea that Final Fantasy XIV would promise the introduction of a new mount and that said mount would be one of the toothy monsters known as a goobbue. It's the sort of thing that could be immediately ignored as being a series of enterprising photoshopped pictures if not for the fact that it's being passed along by the official site. Yes, apparently, the lumbering beasts that terrorize players in both Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV will be added to the stable of mounts alongside chocobos. The preview video itself (embedded just after the break) states that they'll only be available for a limited time before version 2.0; the lore article claims that the very idea seems absurd even in the game world, but there it is. Hopefully players can learn how to obtain the mount soon, with the added caveat that we'll probably have to believe it's a real thing at that point.
The Daily Grind: What would you pay for a fancy ride?
World of Warcraft set the bar at $25 for a shiny horse. EverQuest II followed suit. You can imitate Marty McFly or Aladdin in City of Heroes for about $7.50. And for various amounts of cash in Star Trek Online, you can pimp out your spaceship with all sorts of shiny new nacelles -- or you can ride in a ship with some famous modifications. It's certainly cheaper than a sports car in the real world, but it's still part of a trend of real-world cash buying you a new vehicle. (Or carpet.) So the question should be obvious -- what would you pay for a fancy in-game ride? Are you willing to drop sparklepony money? Would you not pay more than a dollar for something that doesn't have any functional benefit over other in-game options? Or would you drop even more money on something sufficiently shiny, perhaps a horse-car that could be seen from orbit? 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!
Reid on Reddit: SWTOR fans ask him anything and everything
"Ask me anything." That's a dangerous command for anyone to issue, nevermind the community manager of the hottest new MMO on the block. Yet that's just what Stephen Reid said today to the Star Wars: The Old Republic community on Reddit, and the length of questions and answers would make for a mini-novel if packaged as such. While Reid certainly hedges on issues that BioWare is not quite ready to address, he doesn't shy away from direct answers when applicable. The compiled Reddit thread lists dozens and dozens of Q&As, including the much-asked-for guild housing ("on the list for future development"), the ability delay issue ("we'll talk about it publicly soon"), and an upgraded Galactic Trade Network ("improvements will come to the GTN in time, definitely"). In response to the request for non-mechanical (read: animal) mounts, Reid said, "Maybe -- it's a technical challenge, I've been told." He's most excited about the upcoming legacy system reveals, but he's not allowed to talk on it just yet. Amidst the probing questions of the newly launched title is a personal query about what it's like for him to be at the helm of SWTOR community management. "What's it like?" Reid responded. "Bewildering and overwhelming and exciting and demanding, all at once, all day long (and often into the night). I had some idea what I was getting into, but it was bigger than expected. I'll stay as long as I'm wanted."
Cryptozoic's giving away mounts for the holidays
Are you a fan of awesome in-game mounts from WoW TCG? Well, you should be, because it's awesome, and Cryptozoic is giving you a chance to win three different mounts from its new Facebook contest. Between now and Jan. 2, 2012, you can go to Cryptozoic's Facebook page, become a fan, and then Like, comment, and share the loot giveaway picture for your chance to win. Up for grabs are the coveted Spectral Tiger mount, a Wooly White Rhino mount card, and the new Wasteland Tallstrider, one of the first new tallstrider mounts to be introduced to the game. Remember, you must become a fan of the WoW TCG on Facebook in order to be entered, as well as sharing, Liking, and commenting on the promotional picture. Good luck!
Breakfast Topic: Are you a collector?
As of the time of this writing, I am sitting on 136 mounts, 176 pets, nearly 12,000 achievement points, and countless armor sets. I'm not sure where it all began. One minute, I was simply playing the game and happily emptying out my bags at every opportunity. The next, I was gathering and hanging onto just about everything I found in my travels. One thing is for certain: I have a heck of a lot of stuff, and void storage sort of helped with the problem, for now. I think part of it has to do with the ease of obtaining gold over the years. Back in vanilla, it was an incredibly long time before you saw that first gold piece. Saving up for an epic mount at level 60 was almost a rite of passage. Hardly anyone I knew had enough gold to get one when they actually hit level 60; they had to work at grinding enough to afford the mount. And racial mounts were racial mounts. You couldn't get a horse if you weren't human, and you couldn't get a raptor if you weren't a troll. When that changed, it opened up opportunities to actually start collecting -- and when gold started getting easier to obtain, especially through the addition of daily quests, the means to collect got substantially easier.
The Daily Grind: Do MMOs coddle us too much in the early game?
As much as I loved playing RIFT this year -- and I truly did -- one of my biggest critiques happened to be something beloved by many. This was the fact that the early game was so skewed toward giving you everything all at once: access to mounts and all of your class souls (and several builds). As nice as it was for the moment, I soon realized that it robbed me of that strong desire I usually have to want to level and reach significant milestones in my journey, as marked by finally getting said mount or finally gaining access to new classes. The devs said that these changes were a result of player feedback, of which I have no doubt -- if you're going to ask players if they want everything as soon as they start a game, they're going to say "yes" whether it's a good idea or not. In practice, it felt like the game was coddling our new characters so much that we weren't put in much danger or had to struggle hard to gain these shiny toys. What say you? In your MMO of choice, does the game coddle newbies so much that it picks them up every time they stub their toes, is it a perfect balance of challenge and ease, or is it even too difficult? Is coddling a good thing to retain new players or is it bad for the game over the long haul? 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!
The Daily Grind: What's the coolest ride you've had in an MMO?
One of the universal aspects of MMOs is the fact that you have to cover some distance. And not just a few feet in any given direction -- no matter how instanced, you'll be getting from one end of the map to the other on a regular basis. In some games, such as Guild Wars, this is accomplished with easy teleportation, but most games give you some other way of getting from place to place. Sometimes it's a mount, and sometimes you ride a javelin from one point on the map to the next for a specific quest. Maybe you think the coolest ride you've had has been a mount, perhaps a motorcycle or a ravenous beast. Maybe it's been a form of static transport, like an airship or a boat. Or maybe you thought the coolest ride ever was something unique to a given quest, like riding a bomb down to a new quest area. So what's your choice for the coolest ride to be had in an MMO? 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!
Patch 4.3 pets, mounts and collectibles
Blizzard has just posted a comprehensive list of the new pets, mounts, and collectibles available in patch 4.3. Everything from raiding to the new Darkmoon Faire Island is included, as well as the new holiday mounts that will be purchased with holiday currency. The holiday mounts are a departure from the luck-based rolls and one-a-day bags from holiday bosses, which will most likely be well received by the playerbase. Check out the full list of patch 4.3 pets, mounts, and collectibles on the WoW community website. Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Review the official patch notes, and then dig into what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!
Patch 4.3's mounts and how to get them
The World of Warcraft Armory has been updated with new data on the various mounts added to the game with patch 4.3. This data includes confirmation of drop locations. At least two new mounts are being added to in-game holidays, as well as the reveal of the Glory of the Dragon Soul Raider meta achievement. Other mounts, like Experiment 12-B, are now confirmed rare drops off of the Ultraxion encounter in Dragon Soul. Blazing Drake and the Life-Binder's Handmaiden drop from the Madness of Deathwing encounter on normal and heroic difficulties respectively. Experiment 12-B is a rare drop from Ultraxion on normal or heroic mode. It appears to be a chromatic drake mount with a purple hue. Swift Lovebird will be bought from the Love is in the Air holiday vendor for 270 Love Tokens. It looks like a pink tallstrider. Swift Springstrider is purchased from the Noblegarden holiday vendors for 500 chocolates. It looks like a white tallstrider. Twilight Harbinger will be the mount reward for the Dragon Soul meta achievement, Glory of the Dragon Soul raider. As more mount information becomes available, we'll keep you updated. Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Review the official patch notes, and then dig into what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!
Aion 3.0 trailer details housing, new dungeons, and more
Aion fans rejoice! The near-mythical 3.0 update is coming to Korea inside of a week (which means it's a few months removed from the American servers, of course). If the new Korean trailer is any indication, though, it should be well worth the wait. The four-minute clip takes us inside the Promised Land patch's player housing mechanics, not to mention six new instanced areas and a variety of open world locales. You can also glimpse the patch's assorted air and ground mounts. We reported on some early looks at the 3.0 content last month, but the new trailer is even more extensive. Head past the cut to view it in full, and then mosey over to MMO Culture for a few new screenshots.
Lord of the Rings Online adding mount emotes
Emotes: They're not just for Elves, Hobbits, Dwarves, and Men any longer. Naaay, Turbine is preparing to give emote love in Lord of the Rings Online to player mounts as well. Players' horses and goats will soon be able to rear up, kick, and bow with the best of them. While the emotes are not yet available in the game, CM Sapience announced on the forums that players have a chance to win one for free through the LotRO lottos: All weekend long we'll be running lotteries for the brand new, unreleased, Mounted Rear Up emote. That's right, Mount Emotes are coming to the LotRO Store! Enter the lotteries this weekend and you could win it for free, before your friends can buy it. You'll have a few weeks to show it off and brag before it hits the LotRO Store. Check back often as new lotteries will be starting randomly throughout the weekend and on Halloween! The LotRO lottery system is available on the my.lotro website.
New ArcheAge clip shows off CBT4 transportation
Starving ArcheAge fans, take heart. With the onset of the game's fourth Korean closed beta test, we'll likely be seeing more news and views from the upcoming fantasy sandpark over the next few weeks. Today's reveal is a two-minute video focusing on the game's mounts, and while there are a couple of clips that we've seen before (notably portions of the hang-gliding footage and the airship shots), there is a whole bunch of new stuff as well. There are the requisite horses, of course, but also some nifty steampunk automated carriage thingamabobs. The video also features some mouth-watering shots of player ships complete with unfurling sails, what appears to be functional rigging, and players climbing masts, turning the ship's wheel, and more. See for yourself after the cut.
Patch 4.3 PTR: Heart of the Aspects and other new mounts
Patch 4.3 has a new mount we're all very curious about, the Heart of the Aspects. What we're curious about is how we're going to get our grubby little mitts all over it. Is it a heroic Deathwing drop? Or do we get it for completing a raid wide meta-achievement? Is it for killing Deathwing without the aid of the Aspects, the way Mimiron's Head dropped in Wrath? That last one seems unlikely to me, with the way heroic difficulty is accomplished now, but I can't rule it out. Also interesting to note is Experiment 12-B, also new in the most recent data push. What does he look like? Where does he come from? Is it for killing Ultraxion? Another possible meta-achievement mount, as we speculated the Life-Binder's Handmaiden could be? At this time, I have no idea -- but it's new and shiny and I'm sure we'll all want one. We've included the video from MMO-Champion behind the cut, so you can get a look at the Heart of the Aspects mount in motion.
Prius Online releases Stronghold of the North expansion
A couple of weeks ago we told you about Prius Online's new Stronghold of the North expansion. The content was slated to release sometime in October, and today we're finally able to report that it is in fact live and available for you to download. Stronghold adds 500 quests, three new dungeons, two exotic mounts, and a new item upgrade system that "allows players to design their own gear with powerful stats and a unique appearance that suits their character," according to the latest gPotato press release. That's not all, either, as the expansion brings new looted gear and a new city-based venue for guild siege warfare. Finally, gPotato is offering up a double XP weekend to celebrate all the new content. From October 28th through October 30th, players can look forward to XP bonuses, double drop rates, and welcome back bundles for returning players that include combat enhancers and premium item upgrades. Check out some of the new gear (and the two mounts) in our gallery below. [Source: gPotato press release] %Gallery-122493%
Earthrise releases vehicle patch, reactivates old accounts
Masthead Studios has just informed us of the latest patch for Earthrise. There's good news for former players too, as the company is re-upping all inactive accounts for a free 14-day trial period. The patch itself includes new vehicles that can be obtained via quest lines, player crafters, or in-game vendors. The mounts are called hoovers, and when coupled with Earthrise's physics model, they allow players to perform drifts, jumps, and various stunts. Speed is a major factor as well, and Masthead says that explorers will appreciate the new vehicles when checking out the various nooks and crannies across the world of Enterra. Finally, the patch includes "large numbers of strong monsters" designed to provide more of a challenge for PvE players as well as provide greater loot rewards. You can learn more about Earthrise at the game's official website. Also, don't forget to check out the new vehicle concept art in our gallery. %Gallery-48760% [Source: Masthead press release]
Aion's 3.0 update features extensive housing mechanics, mounts
Remember that really slick Aion "vision" trailer that NCsoft released in November of 2009? If you're a fan of the Daeva-centric fantasy MMO you've probably seen the nine-minute clip floating around the intarwebs (and marveled at its graphical upgrades, mounts, player housing, and various bells and whistles). While NCsoft has already implemented some of the visual tweaks in a previous patch, the housing and mounts have remained conspicuously absent. Now, though, new info leaking out of Korea confirms that the features (and the rest of Aion 3.0) are indeed on the way. Housing will be available at level 21 and will boast many different styles, customizable interiors and exteriors (including color and elevation), functional wardrobes, and a variety of furniture items that will be produced by crafters. Mounts will come in both flying and ground-based flavors, and will need to be hatched from eggs like most of Aion's other pets. Finally, it's worth noting that NCsoft has no official release date for 3.0, and the North American servers usually lag several months behind their Korean counterparts in terms of content updates.
EverQuest introduces pegasuses (pegasi?) to the Marketplace
Citizens of Norrath, have you ever wanted to soar about the land on the back of a horse that, inexplicably, has wings? If you answered yes, then you think about some awfully specific things. Also, you're in luck. Sony Online Entertainment has announced that your dreams can now come true, as a number of pegasus mounts have been added to EverQuest's Marketplace. Yeah, that's right, it's going to cost you a bit of cash, but isn't it worth it to fly around on a frilly little equine-avian hybrid? Of course it is, now hush and go look at the pictures in the gallery below. %Gallery-136397%
The Tattered Notebook: A 'Top Gear' look at mounts
Previously, I've been writing about the weighty topic of free-to-play vs. live subscription servers in EverQuest II. This week, I'd like to switch gears, both figuratively and literally, to talk about speed. I've recently become a fan of the show Top Gear, a British program(me) that is completely devoted to the love of cars. I don't know why -- I'm not really into cars, and my Volkswagon Passat Wagon hardly qualifies as a car with a soul. But I was watching a recent episode, the one in which Jeremy was driving an Aston Martin across country, and I thought about how far EQII's mount selection has grown. Gone are the days when your choices ranged from a horse with brown spots to a horse with white spots to the really impressive horse with brown and white spots. The only unique mounts back then were the Paladin and Shadow Knight "fun" mounts. Today, there are dozens of different types of mounts that run, leap, glide, and fly. And they're not all just marketplace quick hits; several are easily attained from simple quests or live events. In this week's Tattered Notebook, I'll look at a few of my favorite mounts with an ode to Top Gear.
Age of Conan long-term subs available, Funcom gifting weekly consumable packs
We've got more Age of Conan-related subscription news for you this morning. Yesterday we mentioned the lifetime sub sweepstakes currently ongoing at AoC's Facebook page. Today we came across some new time-limited sub offers on the game's forums as well as a blurb about free weekly login items. The sub offers come in three-, six-, and 12-month flavors, and each also features a bundle of in-game goods designed to make your Hyborian life a little easier. All three packs give you assorted potions and the basic riding skill, while the six- and 12-month varieties give you mounts to go with it. The weekly login items feature packs of consumables and are available via the special offers tab of the in-game store. This week's pack is labeled A Bountiful Harvest, while subsequent weeks will feature A Hearty Harvest, A Fine Harvest, and The Harvest Reward packs.
The OverAchiever: Wrapping up Mountain O' Mounts
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, we find ourselves gleefully counting the inhabitants of our private stables. Greetings, folks. After last week's tour through the 2011 Brewfest, we're going to wrap up our Mountain O' Mounts series today with a few ill-tempered complaints from WoW Insider's resident cheapskate, and then turn to ... well, that part's up to you. I have a lot of different OverAchievers I would like to do, but no particular preference as to which we'll do next. There are several popular series and guides from Wrath of the Lich King that I would like to update -- among others, I'm interested in revisiting evil achievements, entertaining achievements, tabards, and feats of strength -- but we still haven't done Molten Front achievements, and I've been getting a lot of requests to do a Littlest Pet Shop guide since that was added to the game. In the grand tradition of lazy writers everywhere, I'm going to let you pick! %Poll-69243%
