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Catch another End of Nations beta livestream tonight
End of Nations' second closed beta kicked off in the wee hours of this morning. To celebrate, Trion is hosting another livestream event designed to show off the MMORTS title's gameplay (and the changes that have been made since the first closed beta). The beta event itself happens today through Sunday, August 5th, while the livestream goes down tonight at 8:00 p.m. EDT on the EoN TwitchTV channel. Devs will be showing off new content, including a 4v4 base assault map called Blue Water and a 4v4 domination map called Resource Hog. [Source: Trion press release]
End of Nations second closed beta event scheduled for early August
This cold war... just got hot! Now that we've got cheesy movie poster taglines out of the way, let's talk about End of Nations' upcoming closed beta event. Trion Worlds announced that the event is scheduled for August 3rd, starting at 12:01 a.m. EDT and going until August 5th at 11:59 p.m. EDT. If you don't have a key for the beta yet, don't despair. You can sign up on the End of Nations beta page for a chance to get in, or watch Trion's social media for giveaways. Alternatively, beta access is guaranteed for those who pre-purcase the digital Founder's Edition. [Source: Trion Worlds press release]
Learn all about rogue factions in this End of Nations trailer
From this latest trailer for End of Nations, we've discovered that not only is a globally-unified government an almost certain inevitability in our future, but that the key to a successful post-unification revolution appears to be skin-tight outfits.
Catch Trion's End of Nations livestream tonight
Want to see some End of Nations gameplay? Of course you do. Trion's upcoming MMORTS made a big splash at this year's E3, and now the devs are gearing up for the world premier live broadcast of the game on Trion's TwitchTV channel. Be at your computer around 8:30 p.m. EDT tonight and you'll get to see senior producer Chris Lena, community director Elizabeth Tobey, and community manager Lance James putting the game through its paces. Tonight's shindig is a preview of EoN's initial closed beta event, which kicks off Friday, July 20th. [Source: Trion press release]
End of Nations' elite units and 56-player battles
Trion Worlds is on the cusp of opening the doors for End of Nations' July 20th closed beta event, and its staff is busy talking up the free-to-play MMORTS to any and all who will listen. French Community Manager Franck Vacher spoke with ZAM about controlling a chaotic battlefield and how the game is developing in these late hours. While End of Nations has instanced battles as small as 2v2, the crown jewels of the system are its massive 56-player battles. Vacher said that the team is preparing to test the large battles and gives a good reason that players will want to do their best to take over the game world. "Usually you get some type of bonus -- for example, a loot bonus of, say, five percent -- because you control the territory," he said. "For some of the maps, it changes the objective. On the Bluewater map, you're defender or attacker, so your objective will be completely different." Vacher also commented on the new elite units that were recently added to the game. "It's hard to say [whether] they're overpowered or underpowered -- sometimes when I'm playing, I don't take any heroes because they don't fit with my other units. We'll be working more on balance in the beta, as our alpha's been more about the technical aspects of the game."
The Soapbox: League of Legends is the new World of Warcraft
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Every now and then, a game comes out of nowhere with such incredible financial success that it causes the games industry to completely lose perspective. All it takes is one game to start raking in the millions for developers, publishers and investors to stumble around with dollar signs in their eyes for years to come. Innovation grinds to a halt and everyone starts blindly copying whichever game just hit the jackpot. It's like some huge industry-wide superstition takes over and convinces people that if they do the same dance the same way, it'll rain again. World of Warcraft has consistently had this effect since shortly after its launch in 2004. To this day, several studios per year excitedly announce yet another fantasy MMO that lifts its entire feature set and every gameplay mechanic wholesale from World of Warcraft as if it were a model for automatic success. The same thing is happening again in online gaming today, not from MMOs but from MOBAs, a new genre based on the competitive gaming classic DotA. Developers are still chasing the massive money made by yet another hugely successful game, and this time it's League of Legends.
End of Nations beta starts July 20th, founder's edition guarantees access
What do Trion and Tears for Fears have in common? Not much aside from the title Everybody Wants to Rule the World, which will now be stuck in your head for the next couple of hours. You're welcome. Trion has co-opted the phrase in its latest press release for End of Nations, which reveals that the game's first closed beta event is coming on July 20th. The first event "promises both large and small player maps across a variety of different terrains, as well as a multitude of upgrade options and a wide range of units and battle tactics to deploy," according to the devs. You can either apply for beta and hope for the best or shell out $29.99 for the founder's edition and its guaranteed access. Details on both options are available at the official EoN website. We've also got a complete list of founder edition goodies listed for you after the cut.
New End of Nations Warfront episode looks back at E3, forward to release
If you missed E3 last week, then you also missed Trion's spectacular End of Nations booth on the show floor. Fortunately the firm has released a new episode of its Warfront series. The clip runs for about five minutes, which is plenty of time to take in the E3 sights, sounds, and a few brief interviews with Petroglyph devs who are hard at work on End of Nations. You should also check out Massively's EoN impressions if you haven't already, and stay tuned for further updates from Trion's foray into the MMORTS space.
E3 2012: End of Nations shows its MMO-ish roots
If there's one thing I love about game companies, it's their capacity to innovate. Trion Worlds and Petroglyph are teaming together to do just that with their new MMORTS End of Nations. I had the chance to demo End of Nations at E3 and talk a bit to the folks at Petroglyph, which is gearing up to launch a strong seller that is taking risks with experimentation for the RTS genre. A lot of questions come to mind when one ponders how an MMORTS will function. How many players are there? Will lag be a significant problem? Unit control? These MMORTS games are so new that experimenting in how the game mechanics work is key. The demo was entirely functional and entertaining to play. Let's dive into some details.
End of Nations E3 trailer shows off more gameplay
As we gear up for E3 next week, we're being treated to lots of goodies to get us excited for what will certainly be a wealth of news. Trion is heading that charge today, not only with news of a RIFT expansion and the Defiance video we showed you earlier but also with a brand-new video showcasing the upcoming MMORTS End of Nations. The trailer shows gameplay between the Liberation Front and the Shadow Revolution in a game-show-death-match-style that ends with some interesting commentary on nuclear weapons. You can check the video out for yourself after the cut below, and watch for our E3 interview with Trion on all of its current and upcoming games next week.
New End of Nations trailer shines some light on the Shadow Revolution
Last month, we got a look at the Liberation Front faction of Trion Worlds' upcoming MMORTS, End of Nations. Today, the company released a trailer highlighting the Liberation Front's enemy of war, the forebodingly named Shadow Revolution. Players of the Shadow Revolution faction have their choice of two classes: the Wraith class, which focuses on utilizing guerrilla tactics to strike quickly and retreat before counterattacks can be made, and the Phantom class, which takes advantage of cloaking devices in order to launch devastating surprise attacks that can cripple enemy forces before they know what hit them. To get a look at the Shadow Revolution's units in action, just check out the official trailer below.
End of Nations Liberation Front info and trailer
Trion's End of Nations MMORTS features two playable factions. One of them is the heroic Liberation Front, which is featured in the company's latest video release. The Front boasts two classes: the hard-hitting Spartan, who drives tanks and "other infantry units with high defenses and high damage output," and the Patriot, who specializes in multi-role support units. Both classes, as well as a number of selectable (and customizable) units, are highlighted in the new trailer, so take a look past the break and get a leg up on building your battle-ready company. End of Nations is a free-to-play strategy title that is currently in alpha testing. [Source: Trion press release]
Massively Exclusive: Trion previews End of Nations' armory
Trion's super-secret End of Nations is moving right along in its alpha cycle, and today Massively has an exclusive piece of news for you regarding the upcoming MMORTS. The game differs from traditional real-time strategy titles because it doesn't have base-building, but what it does have is something called an armory. Trion tells us that players will "set their loadouts, create companies, modify units, customize skins, and more" inside the armory. The dev team has just revamped the armory mechanics, and you can get a good look at the armory window in the image after the cut (click on it to zoom in!).
End of Nations closed beta to start in spring, open beta in summer
If you're a fan of the underrepresented MMORTS genre, you've likely been waiting for news from Trion Worlds regarding the upcoming End of Nations. That makes today quite a good day for you because the team behind the game has just revealed the plan of attack for the game from this moment forward. Beta testing is barreling toward potential players (who are encouraged to register for an upcoming slot), with the game opening up sometime in the spring. Not in the mood to wait for a closed beta slot? Hoping for one but not trusting your luck? That's all right -- open beta is set to start in the summer, giving everyone a chance to get in on the large-scale persistent tactical battles. Past that, players can expect the game to launch completely free-to-play, most likely sometime in the fall. The announcement video just past the cut also promises that players can look forward to a lot more in the way of news updates, something that should help contribute to the overall good feeling of any MMORTS fans. [Source: Trion Worlds press release]
Hands-on with End of Nations
Real-time strategy games aren't exactly in vogue at the moment. The genre is far from dead, but modern RTS games, with the notable exception of StarCraft, don't tend to appeal to as broad an audience as do MMOs. Trion Worlds and Petroglyph's proposed answer to genre stagnation is the upcoming MMORTS End of Nations. In fact, Trion thinks that what's really lacking in the RTS genre is a persistent world, one filled with robots and post-apocalyptic fascism. The team behind End of Nations has some serious industry cred. Publisher Trion Worlds is notable for its remarkably smooth-launching MMO, RIFT. Developer Petroglyph's pedigree is no less respectable (if a little dated), with titles like 1992's Dune II (widely credited for having inspired the Warcraft series of RTS games) and the original 1995 Command and Conquer under its belt. My time with this game was spent during the alpha testing phase, and many things might change between now and launch. Still, the bones of the game were there, and I'm happy to share my findings with you, discerning readers. From what I saw and experienced, End of Nations just might have what it takes to become the first "triple-A" MMORTS.%Gallery-96732%
End of Nations Warfront 03: Interrogation edition
It's time for another episode of End of Nations Warfront, and this week, Cole Marshall takes players' questions from last week's warfront and interrogates Community Manager Myll_Erik, also known as Lance James. James answers players' questions as best as he can, speaking on PvP tournaments, tutorial videos, and life at the Trion Worlds offices. He also discusses the challenges of being a CM and details how the forums will be handled when the trash talk begins. For the full video, just click on past the cut and have a look for yourself.
End of Nations' Warfront 02 details large-scale battles, new comic
In this week's End of Nations Warfront, Cole Marshall takes a close look End of Nations' massive scale and the new End of Nations comics from DC. It even gives the community an opportunity to interrogate Community Manager Myll_Erik. Players are given a glimpse at the large-scale battles of End of Nations as Marshall talks about massive, planet-wide battles. He then announces the release of End of Nations #1 from DC Comics. The issue can be bought in stores or online at Comixology, and readers can pick up a small teaser issue, End of Nations #0, for free online. To top it off, the community is given the opportunity to "interrogate" Community Manager Myll_Erik. So head on over to the game's official Facebook page and interrogate away, but first, click on past the cut for the full video.
End of Nations unveils warfare screenshots
The End of Nations is upon us! Well, not really, but Trion Worlds has revealed a new batch of screenshots focusing on -- what else -- mass warfare. The screens give players a glimpse of the maps of which they'll be vying for control. Also on display are many of the units available to the game's three factions, including tanks, artillery, scouting vehicles, and more. For all of the freshly pressed screenshots, just click on through the gallery below. [Source: Trion Worlds press release] %Gallery-96732%
MMO impressions from Eurogamer Expo 2011
Some of the industry's biggest names were at Eurogamer Expo last week, including BioWare, NCsoft and Trion Worlds. I was on the floor at the expo to get some hands-on experience with several upcoming MMOs and countless singleplayer games. Guild Wars 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic stole the show, with hands-on gameplay sessions and in-depth developer talks. BioWare also made the bold move of announcing SWTOR's official release date during its talk at the convention. In addition to promoting the heck out of RIFT, Trion showed off upcoming MMORTS End of Nations with a hands-on demo and encouraged attendees to sign up to the End of Nations newsletter. RIFT and World of Tanks were both playable on the show floor for the entire weekend, but nothing new was being shown. Hack-and-slash adventure RPG Dark Souls and the beautifully zen Journey both demonstrated incredibly innovative multiplayer aspects that I'll likely cover in my weekly Not So Massively column, but neither falls neatly into the MMO box. OnLive had a spectacular showing at the expo, giving away free home consoles to every attendee and demonstrating the system's surprisingly lag-free gameplay on the floor. We discovered that although there are no MMOs in OnLive's current lineup, this isn't due to technical infeasibility, so we may yet see MMOs launched on the service. Skip past the cut for my in-depth hands-on impressions of Guild Wars 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic and End of Nations from Eurogamer Expo 2011.
End of Nations' Executive Producer discusses F2P model, buying power
With each game that announces a free-to-play business model, the same concerns immediately arise in the minds of the game's fans. Will the game allow players to pay for convenience, or will it allow them to pay to win? David Luehmann, Executive Producer of upcoming MMORTS End of Nations, addressed that very concern in a recent interview. What did he have to say? He was quick to put players' anxiety to rest, claiming that the game "will not be selling pay-to-win items that give one player a significant gameplay advantage over another" and adding that most cash-shop items will also be purchasable using in-game currency. But why go the free-to-play route to begin with? According to Luehmann, the team realized that in a game such as End of Nations, which is focused on large-scale multiplayer warfare, the game's fun factor will be directly tied to the number of players battling it out at any given time. As such, the team wants to "minimize the barrier to entry and maximize the fun." Of course, the game also features an optional subscription option. Luehmann is quick to note, however, that just like the item shop, subscriptions will not provide players with a gameplay advantage. It will instead yield "significant value and convenience extras." The full interview also includes a few details on the game itself, so if you're interested in Petroglyph's upcoming MMORTS, head on over to Gamefront for the full interview.
