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EVE Evolved: Motivating the troops
In EVE Online, pilots are encouraged to join player-run corps in order to find a place in the game they can belong and meet like-minded people with similar goals. As the CEO of a small EVE corporation, I've often found the hardest part of running a corp is keeping the members motivated. In a previous article, I gave advice on running a corporation, from details on keeping your assets secure against theft to the different types of operations a corp can go on. Following that, I explored the importance of corporate goals and a few of the things corps routinely work together to achieve. Maintaining motivation is integral to both running corp operations and achieving goals. Demotivated pilots will rarely join in on corp activities and are more likely to leave the corp in search of a better one. This is a particularly big problem in PvP-based organisations like faction warfare corps, pirate squads or territorial alliances. In this short article, I look at four of my favourite ways a corp can motivate their pilots.
Sam & Max voted as next Telltale series for Macs
[GinnyN] With Guybrush Threepwood fans taken care of, Telltale's adventure game-lovin' enthusiasts have voted Sam & Max as the next title to get Mac-ified. The Telltale blog confirmed the choice yesterday, saying that the other two titles up for porting (Wallace & Gromit and Strong Bad) will be playable on OS X "within the course of this year." Alongside the announcement (which didn't include a release date), the site posted a handful of "propaganda" created by voters to sway others to their side. We've posted one of our faves above, but we suggest checking out the whole lot.
Cryptic isn't spreading Klingon propaganda, but it's still awesome
You there! You look like the kind of aspiring individual who knows what's best for him or her. Why, we bet that if you had to choose between the cowardly Federation or mighty Klingon Empire, you'd make the right decision. Would you? Of course you would. That's right, you're a proud and courageous warrior, it's so obvious now. We asked Cryptic if they were involved, but their official response was that, sadly, they weren't. Even still, the video is nothing but pure awesome and we hope that whomever is responsible makes a Federation variant at some point -- or even a Borg version! Check out the video after the break, and afterwards you will come to love Qo'noS as much as we now do.
BioWare's Dragon Age producer joins Disney's Propaganda Games
Dragon Age: Origins' Executive Producer, Dan Tudge, just can't be bothered to wait for BioWare's delayed game to get on retail shelves and has taken a job with Disney's Propaganda Games. According to Develop, Turok and Turok 2 designer Propaganda Games will have Tudge in the role of VP and general manager of the Vancouver-based studio, which is currently working on two unannounced titles. Hopefully, Tudge, who has held positions at Relic Entertainment and Morgan Media, will actually stick around to watch those titles go off to market.%Gallery-28224%
Join the WAR: the propaganda posters of Warhammer Online
The folks at Mythic Entertainment have impressed us again and again with their ability to sell their game with a smile. Whether it's via the production podcasts, Paul Barnett's video blogging, their in-person appearances or Mark Jacobs' personal blog the team has tried to put Warhammer Online in front of us in some different ways. So, really, it's not surprising that they've offered up some fantastic propaganda-style posters espousing the various benefits of WAR races.There are some funny, funny slogans in there, one for each race. "Stunty tastes like Chicken" may be the most direct, but they're all clever. "It's our World, you just Die in it" for the Dark Elves, "Would you Kill for a Beer?" for the Dwarves and "Kill them all, let Sigmar sort them out" for the Empire are probably this blogger's favorite. You can check out the whole set of posters in our gallery below, or on the official Warhammer Online site. Which one is your favorite? Check out the Posters >> %Gallery-33696% Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Warhammer guides: Massively's Character Creation Guide and our WoW Player's Guide to Warhammer. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
The good and the bad of EVE Online
MMO blogger Ardwulf has been running a series of posts on what he views as the best MMOs on the market, recently covering EverQuest II and now EVE Online. His piece is a basic overview of EVE, but one that looks at the concepts behind the game, rather than how they're executed through game mechanics.To that end, Ardwulf views the title as something that captures the essence of 'space' -- cold, vast, and often hostile. Perhaps even intimidating. He notes that EVE's PvP isn't limited to breaching the hulls of your opponents in space. PvP is alive and well in terms of market warfare and propaganda, two avenues a character may take in their career that might not seem readily apparent. Still, despite Ardwulf's praise for the unique aspects of the game, he also cites some of the negative aspects of the title: "There are no classes, no levels, no bosses, no avatars, no aggro, no pets, no text dumps telling you where to go next... someone coming in from a few years of WoW and nothing else has every right to be caught flatfooted." So while EVE Online certainly isn't a game for everyone, it does appeal to players seeking something different from the standard fantasy MMO fare which dominates the industry. If you're interested in reading more about the game from the perspective of someone who's acutely aware of the good as well as the bad in EVE Online, check out Ardwulf's piece on what he views as one of 'the best MMOs on the market.'
EVE Chronicle puts players at the center of factional warfare
The latest EVE Chronicle is called "The Dark End of Space." This installment connects the events seen in the full Empyrean Age trailer (namely, Jamyl Sarum's utter obliteration of a greater Minmatar fleet) with the lowsec militia conflicts and missions that have embroiled EVE Online's players in factional warfare. Indeed, "The Dark End of Space" focuses on how each of the four races -- despite having conflicting goals and ideologies -- view the capsuleers... the actual players in EVE Online: "A group of people so powerful they're practically a faction unto themselves. Immortal, fearless and wealthy beyond imagining. Born of all four empires but beholden, in truth, to no one but themselves. And utterly untapped, in this little skirmish of ours.""The Dark End of Space" shows how each of the races face similar difficulties, and how the players of EVE are thought by each faction to be the solution to their problems. EVE dev CCP Abraxas says of the newest Chronicle: "... this one breaks rank and instead focuses on the capsuleers. It explains how we went from the end of the novel to the onset of factional warfare, and how you guys got pulled into it." This could get very interesting if factional propaganda enters into the game, with each race's militia trying to further sway the capsuleers to their cause and tip the balance of power in the Empyrean Age. But for the time being, the Empyrean Age novel, the trailer, and the Chronicles are intertwined, and it seems that EVE's players are firmly at the center of what is to come.
Turok devs blame delay on PS3 version
The new Turok title was originally scheduled for release in November of last year, but only came out this past week. The reason for the four-month delay? According to developer Propaganda Games, it's the PS3's fault.Josh Holmes, VP and studio manager at Propaganda, tells Canada.com that lead development of Turok took place on the Xbox 360, due to the console's easy compatibility with the Unreal Engine 3. Though the Xbox 360 version was finished on schedule, the PS3 version took a bit more finagling to get it "up to the standard of the 360 version."X3F points out that Propaganda's difficulties stem somewhat from the sub-par PS3 port of Unreal Engine 3, which also led to Silicon Knights' lawsuit against Epic.[Via X3F]
Team kill achievement in Turok is no more
Well, it looks like gamers can finally rest easy. Readers may recall that Turok was to include an achievement called "Grab Bag" that rewarded players for killing their own team members. Specifically, players had to kill "at least 1 creature, 1 enemy, 1 teammate, and yourself in the same round of a public match." With griefing players already ruining multiplayer games everywhere, gamers were naturally upset when Turok's developers decided to actually reward them for it. Thankfully though, the devs at Propaganda have seen the light and will be altering the achievement with a launch day patch for the game. The achievement will remain in the game after the patch, but will now only require players to kill a creature, an enemy, and themselves. So it's mostly fixed, but don't be surprised if your teammates are constantly throwing grenades at their feet.[Via Joystiq]
Shipping this week: manly edition [update]
You know, when you think about it, Turok is a manly game. In fact, it's just about the manliest game it could possibly be. Let's take a look at the facts. One, you play Joseph Turok, a burly, burly man with a jaw hewn from marble and cheekbones to die for. Two, he kills gun toting soldiers using a bow that fires exploding arrows. Three, he hunts dinosaurs with a knife. Finally, don't tell anyone, but we have it on good authority that he goes bear wrestling with Chuck Norris every other Saturday. So yeah, Turok looks to be a game you can show off to impress menfolk without fear of reprisal. Oh, and it's the only new game on 360 this week, so here's hoping it's actually good.Update: While GameStop notes that the game launches this week, many readers have pointed out that the official Turok site still maintains the February 5 release date. In other words, it looks like gamers will be waiting another week before controlling Turok and his manly shoulders.
Turok demo supposedly available now [update]
If you're one to believe a certain Major Nelson, then there is currently a Turok demo available on Xbox Live Marketplace right damn now. Alas, it seems as though Major's many spies (birds, beasts) are misinformed, as said demo is nowhere to be found. Nope, nothing. We continue to stare at the screen, hoping desperately that the demo will make itself known to us. We've uttered all the elvish passwords we know, but so far our efforts have been fruitless. With any luck, we'll stumble upon the answer soon.Update: Major Nelson has updated the availability for the game. The demo is available in the following regions: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and United Kingdom [Via Joystiq]
Team kill achievement may be pulled from Turok
Speaking to CVG, Turok developer Propaganda Games made it known that the developer is considering the removal of the now infamous "Grab Bag" achievement. For those that don't recall, the "Grab Bag" achievement awards gamers 20 points in Turok multiplayer for killing "at least 1 creature, 1 enemy, 1 teammate, and yourself in the same round of a public match." The online community received the achievement with almost universal disdain. Apparently, Propaganda was listening, as vice president Josh Holmes said that the developer is considering the release of a patch "it if it does become an issue when the game releases." Holmes noted that the achievement was created as the result of many first-time Turok players managing to kill themselves and teammates during their first match. The achievement was intended purely as a joke, but Holmes admits that Propaganda underestimated just how far "achievement whores" are willing to go.It's important to reiterate that the patch to remove the achievement is not a certainty yet, so expect the early days of Turok's release to be filled with griefing, team killing bastards.
Turok developer may consider removing team kill achievement
After reviewing concerns about its Xbox achievement choices, Propaganda games says it'll consider removing the "team kill" award after the Turok launch early next year. Although CVG reports in its headline "Turok dev to scrap team kill achievement," the quote from Propaganda VP Josh Holmes is actually, "We are currently looking at readying a patch or solution for it if it does become an issue when the game releases" (um, looks like somebody forgot to read the story before writing the headline). That's not a definitive statement that Propaganda will nix the controversial achievement, but merely acknowledgment that the developer will consider doing so after the game releases.Actually, a few statements made by Holmes in the interview are a little frightening. For example, he says that the team kill achievement -- which gives ten points for killing one creature, enemy, teammate and yourself in a single round -- was originally created as a joke because they found that players in their first Turok match met all the criteria. That's not exactly a confidence builder.
Turok goes dino hunting with pre-order demo for Xbox 360
In a show of confidence, Touchstone (read: Disney) and Propaganda games are making a pre-order demo available now for Turok -- a full two months before the full game's Feb. 5, 2008 release. The disc has "approximately 30 minutes of gameplay from Turok" and is available at Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart.com and Game Crazy. Although there doesn't appear to a release date change for the PS3 version, the pre-order demo is currently only available on Xbox 360. The PC version of Turok will begin stalking reptiles sometime in Spring 2008.The demo disc also includes a "premium item" and at this point.... we have no idea what that means. Our short time with Turok at E3 did impress us, so we're looking forward to getting another chance to experience the hunt two months before launch. No word if a PS3 demo will be distributed some other way, but we're just happy that Propaganda and Disney had some sense to release next year instead of dropping Turok like a cow into the raptor pit of this holiday season.[Via Press Release]
Turok's team killing achievement
Well that's just great. Like we needed another reason to get the denizens of Xbox Live into griefing. The achievement list for Turok has been revealed and one achievement in particular could raise a new generation of team killing jerkholes. Entitled the "Grab Bag" achievement, it rewards players for killing "at least 1 creature, 1 enemy, 1 teammate, and yourself in the same round of a public match." Granted, at least it's not for a ranked match, but who's bright idea was this? Sorry Propaganda, but encouraging betrayals (outside of Kane & Lynch anyway) is not our idea of fun. That said ... we'll probably do it. We could use the points.[Via Joystiq]
Joystiq hands-on: Turok
Dinosaurs, as you may have heard, play an important role in Turok. They are big, scary, and seem awfully fond of the taste of human flesh. Lucky for Joseph Turok (worst. last name. evar.), he just happens to be a badass killing machine (probably as a result of the endless childhood teasing about his stupid name). We had a chance to take Turok's brand of dinosaur destruction for a spin at E3, and we jumped at opportunity like a dilophosaur on Newman.
Turok coming February 5th, revitalizes franchise
During Disney Interactive's Press Conference this afternoon General Manager of Propaganda Games, Josh Holmes cames on stage to show off Turok's facelift and how Propaganda has plans to reinvent the series. The video they showed included stealth kills by stabbing someone in the face, and using the bow and arrows. It's rather unfortunate the main character got eaten by a T-rex. They also anneaournced that Turok will be released on February 5th, 2008. Let us know if this this game coming in Q1 2008 piques your interest, you must.
New-gen Turok releases Feb 5, 2008
Propaganda Games has announced that Turok will debut on February 5, 2008. The announcement was made during Disney Interactive's press conference by Josh Holmes of Propaganda Games. Turok is Propaganda's attempt to reinvigorate the ailing franchise. The game aims to do this by providing players with a variety of gameplay choices and some particularly nasty enemies. Given the absolute glut of first person shooters (and AAA titles in general) being released this holiday season, the decision to release the game in 2008 is probably a wise one.
IGN tussles with Turok
If you've been playing games long, you've probably heard a million variations on the "if you try to go in guns blazing, you're dead" theme. The idea, you see, is to leverage the idea that there are multiple ways to solve any puzzle in a game, and direct violence is rarely the best one. It was used to promote Splinter Cell, Oblivion, and now Turok. Trite though the sentiment may be, it seems Turok is going a long way towards adding some variety to the FPS genre. IGN got their hands on the title for some pre-E3 action and came away impressed. The enemies seem to have pretty decent AI, which means they will trigger alarms if you're less than stealthy and wait for backup to arrive before they flank and kill you. In a refreshing change of pace, there is no "stealth mode" to aid you in sneaking up on your enemies, so you'll just have to do your best to stay out of sight. You patience is rewarded with some gruesome stealth kills. With all these changes though, the developers at Propaganda are particularly keen to show off the dinosaurs.
Iranian government making strategy games ... finally!
Not to be outdone by the US military's use of video games as recruiting tool, Iran's government has begun creating "propagandatainment" as well. Tehran's "Taliya News" reports that Saving the Port, released today by Tebyan, an official "information dissemination institute," is an attempt to "replace the excessive amount of aggression seen in strategic Western game [sic] with rational thinking." Who knew Iranian news organizations were so catty? On the Snark-O-Meter, that line is somewhere between Kathy Griffin and a New York Post gossip column. Looks like we'd better raise the threat level from "Elevated" to "Sassy."Info on Saving The Port is scant, but it seems to be a wargame for the PC set in World War II-era Iran. Players will relive all the legendary WWII battles that took place in the Middle East.
