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The Tattered Notebook: EverQuest Next Round Table roundup
Back when EverQuest Next and EverQuest Landmark were announced, SOE President John Smedley made it clear that the two games were henceforth in "open development." That meant that the company would be soliciting feedback and opinions from players about myriad design decisions for the two games. Since then, EQ Next devs have thrown out new questions each week for players to vote on and discuss. Utilizing polls and forum discussions in a special section of the main site labeled Round Table, important topics like bearded female dwarves and armor appearance customization are delved into and player desires and feedback are gathered. After collecting the data, the devs respond, sometimes in video form. Today, The Tattered Notebook is going to round up all those roundtables, giving you a summary of which way the community is leaning on these different topics as well as the dev input. I'll even throw in snippets of their opinions as well! Of course, if you haven't added your thoughts to the mix and you'd like to, you still have time to do so as all the polls are still active.
StarCraft Universe appeals to Kickstarter audience for help
Remember StarCraft Universe, the fan-made mod that turned the RTS into an MMO? The project is still going strong after two years, but its development team is in dire need of funds to push it over the hill and into open beta testing. The solution? Kickstarter, of course. Upheaval Arts hopes to raise $80,000 or more to finish the first act of the game and get it into public testing. Currently there are two races in the game (Terran and Protoss), although with stretch goals the Zerg are a possibility. The team has some respectable names attached to the project, including Composer David Orr and voice actors Danielle McRae and Eric Dieter. StarCraft Universe will require Battle.net to play and will be completely free to all. If you're concerned about Blizzard finally lowering the boom on this mod, well, don't. The team says that it's gotten the studio's approval: "While Blizzard is not directly affiliated with this project's production, we do communicate with them to submit bug reports and make technical requests. They have given their blessing/permission for us to launch this Kickstarter, and they are supporting our efforts by featuring SCU as an arcade highlight."
The Daily Grind: Are there MMOs you'd like more if the setting were different?
EverQuest Next hadn't been on my radar before the big reveal, but at this point it's hard to not be on board. The game looks gorgeous and has a lot of really interesting ideas underpinning its development, and I find myself eager to find out more as development progresses. But despite that enthusiasm, I really wish it weren't another fantasy game. The market is full of fantasy games. Obviously it couldn't be a science fiction game within the franchise, but still, I find myself wishing that they'd taken all of these principles and applied them to a more interesting setting on a whole. Maybe you're in the opposite camp, though. Maybe you'd be more enthusiastic about WildStar if it were a fantasy game. Perhaps you'd prefer The Secret World in a steampunk setting. Are there games you'd like more if the setting were different? Or are you happy with things just the way they are? 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!
Meet WildStar's brilliant, horrible Mondo Zax
In the world of WildStar, Chua are experts of science and technology responsible for designing weapons and other gadgets for the Dominion empire. And if you've ever wanted to meet one in person, today's your lucky day. Yesterday, Carbine Studios posted an interview with WildStar's most famous Chua, Mondo Zax. Zax is Chief Technologist for the Dominion Research and Experimentation Division (DRED) and a brilliant inventor with a short temper and a malicious streak. You can imagine how the interview turns out for the individual asking the questions. The interview discusses Mondo Zax's family (he probably murdered his siblings) and passions (building guns that melt people's organs) and is worth a read if you're curious about WildStar's main characters and the lore behind them.
Breakfast Topic: Which playable race would you like to see come to WoW?
Those players who dreamed of a future in which they could be naga had their dreams realized and crushed in less than a day because of foreign language interviews with Ghostcrawler. But instead of being disappointed in what we won't have let's talk about what races we want to see made playable in the next expansion and beyond. Personally, I'm holding out for murlocs. Perhaps that MRGRGL sound we've been terrified of hearing for so long was actually a friendly greeting, a request for a hug or even just a handshake. Perhaps making them a playable race would be the first step towards reaching out in friendship to our semi-aquatic neighbors. Come on, Ghostcrawler, if you can't give us naga, surely you can make murlocs happen, right? But that's probably a long shot. What do you think, readers? Which playable race is going to be headed to WoW next?
The Daily Grind: Why do you play a short race?
Let me put my capital-b Bias up front and center here: Short races rock. Whether they be Gnomes, Gibberlings, Asura, Hobbits, or Dwarves, if I have the option to play a diminutive character in an MMO, I'll take it. Even my City of Heroes characters jacked down the slider to the shortest possible height. It's why I'm ecstatic that WildStar will be offering the Chua as an option, because my purpose in life is to play a small rabid kangaroo-rat-thing. So why do I play short races? Being somewhat short myself, I like putting my height out there in games as a point of pride instead of being ashamed of it. Plus, there's always something cool about watching a tiny dude beat up someone 1500% of his body mass. Plus plus, short races are often associated with a wicked sense of humor and irreverence. That's me, baby! Enough about me; why do you play a short race? Where are my gnomies at today? Speak up, tiny brothers and sisters! 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: Why do you play a tall race?
Let me put my capital-b Bias up front and center here: Tall races are awesome. From Draenei to Roegadyn, Norn to Bahmi, I'm always tempted to play a race that towers above the others. My characters in Champions Online and DC Universe Online both tend to be elevated above the crowd, which can occasionally prove problematic when attempting to slip into smaller passageways. Even the shorter characters I play are on the tall side for their races. Why do I do it? A lot of the time I just prefer the overall demeanor of the taller races, compared to smaller races that often come across as overbearing (Guild Wars 2's Asurans) or annoying (World of Warcraft's Gnomes). Aside from that, taller races have an easier time conveying a variety of attitudes from body language, posture, and dress. And I'm relatively tall myself, so there's a touch of familiarity there. There's no shortage of players who take playing diminutive races as a point of pride, but people who play taller races don't have that same sort of community. So today I say stand up, look down, and tell everyone: Why do you play a tall race? 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 Nexus Telegraph: WildStar's dirty little secret races
I'm of two minds about the last two races in WildStar. And I'll be honest, the first mind is kind of bored because those of us with sharp eyes had already figured most of this out. Most of us might not have been sure of the names, to be fair. But the core concepts are fairly close to what most of us expected, with both races playing against type -- cute and fuzzy for the Dominion, creepy and leering for the Exiles. I even speculated that the last race of the Exiles would be a race that focused upon getting dirty work done when it needed to be done, and sure enough, what did we get? That being said, both of these races are pulled off with a style and panache that I should have expected but didn't. So even if I could have guessed that these were the practical upshots of the race grid, I hadn't counted on them being this nifty.
WildStar reveals its final two races, the Chua and the Mordesh
Everyone has a dirty little secret -- maybe not something he'd be ashamed to admit in public but something he doesn't necessarily want to talk about freely. That's definitely the case for WildStar's Exile and Dominion factions, both of which consist of four races... of which we've seen three. Until today. Revealed today at SDCC are the last two races in the game: the Chua that round out the Dominion and the Mordesh that round out the Exiles. Even at a glance you can see why the last two races are a bit less likely to be discussed by the other races. The Chua don't have that certain sense of decorum the Dominion likes to account itself with, and the Mordesh don't have... well, a pulse. So let's learn a little more about both of these races between the official reveals on the WildStar website and the introduction trailer just past the break. We've also got some charming details from Carbine Studios about these two dirty little secrets.%Gallery-194204%
Leaderboard: Which FFXIV race is your favorite?
Final Fantasy XIV is back on my gaming radar here lately, thanks mostly to the positive word-of-mouth surrounding the forthcoming reboot. I played the original version of the game for a month when it launched, and while I didn't stick around, I always meant to check back at some point. I don't remember much about my original character, though, and due to the fact that all of the races are appealing in some way, I'm having a hard time deciding on a main. That's where this week's Leaderboard comes in, as mayhap the Massively commentariat will influence me one way or another when it comes to A Realm Reborn's races. Which FFXIV race is your favorite? Vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Breakfast Topic: Least favorite playable race
In a recent Community Blog Topic, we asked what your favorite playable race is. Many people in the comments would have preferred to answer least favorite. So here you go. My least favorite race is human. It's not from any lore standpoint, unlike my favorite playable race (the Forsaken). It's just that I play a human in real life and I've never liked playing humans in my fantasy games. I try every once in a while, but I always get bored and go for something else. Also, delivering love letters just isn't my thing. Granted I'm Horde biased, but I do find most of the other Alliance races fun to play when I'm taking a walk on the blue and yellow side. Humans are just so bland to me. What is your least favorite playable race and why? Do you still play the race on the bottom of your list. If so, why? The poll is after the break.
Community Blog Topic Results: Favorite playable race
Last week's Community Blog Topic asked, "What is your favorite playable race?" Mine is the Forsaken, even though I have no high level characters that are undead. Many people agreed with me, but the race that came out on top was not my favorite decomposing race. Tauren The race most people liked out of all choices was the Tauren. As AdmiringAzeroth said on her blog, I like their massive bulk and their cute faces (even if there's only a choice of 4). I also like their druid forms. And jdpatrick.gamer's Horde choice is Tauren as well. My decision was based SOLELY on a comment Matthew Rossi made on the podcast some months ago. I am paraphrasing, but he made a statement to the effect of, "... when you see a Tauren warrior in plate mail running straight for you, you poop a little."
Hyperspace Beacon: The summer of SWTOR
Every time I listen to the BioWare developers talk about Star Wars: The Old Republic, I am impressed with how passionate they are about the game. When Producer Bruce Maclean, Executive Producer Jeff Hickman, and Community Manager Eric Musco spoke to us yesterday, they sat on the edge of their seats because of how excited they were about telling us about the next updates coming to their game. Despite the game being a year and a half old, these three appeared to be riding the same hype-train the game launched with. Although these three BioWare employees suggested that the majority of the conversation on the livestream would feature discussion about Game Update 2.2, they ended up highlighting features and events taking place beyond the next patch. The questions they answered, filtered from the forum, Twitter, Facebook and the chatroom, jumped all over the place, but I believe they can be narrowed down to three major categories of concern: events, PvP changes, and the valued subscriber.
A tale of Forgotten Realms: DDO's Update 18 and the Shadowfell Conspiracy
Dungeons and Dragons Online's second expansion will not be like the first. In fact, Shadowfell Conspiracy might even be seen as a pseudo-sequel to DDO, a game-within-a-game that's offering players a fresh start in a favorite land. When the expansion hits on August 19th, players will be able to ignore all of DDO's Eberron content to start a new character at level 15 in the Forgotten Realms. Between the Forgotten Realms content that Turbine's added to the game in the past year and the new missions coming with Shadowfell Conspiracy, players could conceivably level solely in this setting. It's obvious that Turbine's a little Forgotten-Realms-mad right now, although that's not a bad thing. The setting is a favorite among D&D fans, and while Eberron has its supporters, the studio obviously sees the Forgotten Realms as the future of this long-running MMO. While the expansion is still a couple of months away, today's Update 18: Disciples of Shadow update will serve as a prologue so that players can get started on their journey through this fresh land. We sat down with DDO's team to talk about Update 18, the new races coming with Shadowfell Conspiracy, and the pre-purchase program that promises to give you head start. Read on, or else the wrath of the owl bear will be upon thee!
The Daily Grind: Why do you play an anthropomorphic race?
A Daily Grind discussion last week on MMO races that we detest got me thinking about anthropomorphic races -- you know, the animals-on-hind-legs dudes and dudettes. The frog-people. The cow-people. The cat-people. The wolf-people. The leopard-people. The rat-people. The lizard-people. The panda-people. Really, the sky's the limit when you can turn any animal into a humanoid playable race. I'm only disappointed that we haven't seen platypus-people or manatee-people yet in MMOs. Without bringing the "imaginary racism" this time, I'm genuinely curious what propels people to play an anthropomorphic race. The easy jab would be to say that it's just catering to the furries out there, but I think that's not universally true. What's the appeal of playing a dog-person? It can't just be racials such as "mark your territory" and "excess slobber." So I want to hear from the folks who play one of these races and hear what your reason is for picking an animal-humanoid character. Don't be defensive. I'm not attacking you; I'm merely curious. Is it the road less traveled? Is it an affection you have for a particular animal? Is it a rebellion against the boring fantasy races out there? 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!
Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls Online's factional divides
The Elder Scrolls Online's Tamriel hosts many races that are generally segregated from each other. Nords of Skyrim usually stick to their northern frosty mountains. Argonians settle in their Black Marsh. Khajiit rest in Elsweyr. But we know from playing other Elder Scrolls games that individuals of all races most definitely move around the map, mostly adventurers like our possible TESO characters. It is very possible from a canon perspective that my Redguard will wander through Morrowind. Unlike other faction-based MMOs, TESO has an interesting plan for those players with wanderlust. For today's column, I've found a community member who explains some of the implications of factional divides for us. I'm also interested in how you will personally handle some of these factional issues.
Get some Defiance DLC with a side of free updates
Now that Defiance is live and has gone through the usual slew of launch-day messes, it's time for the developers to start thinking about the future. That means DLC. The latest development blog explains both what the team is doing to address the game's issues and how DLC will be released in a tiered system, with every major DLC update containing upgrades to the cash shop, a paid DLC component, and a free update for everyone. The first DLC is already en route, and its $10 paid component allows players to make a Castithan character, access a unique storyline, and gain some special vehicles and outfits. Even if you don't pay for the DLC, you'll have access to new Castithan Blades, and a new open world game mode called Siege, and can earn new Charge Weapons. The game's store, meanwhile, will allow you to tint your Castithan Blades, buy new lockboxes or vehicles, and re-customize your character. There's a little something for everyone playing the game, and that's the ultimate goal.
Choose My Adventure: Pouring the foundation in Darkfall
It's relocation time! Although there were plenty of tempting properties spread around various locales to choose from, once the bidding wars began, Darkfall Unholy Wars grabbed the lead and refused to let go. So we're packing up our tools and moving to Agon to get this Choose My Adventure project started. And considering the whole neighborhood just went through a recent renovation, I'm sure we'll fit right in building our new retreat. Now, we just need... hm, where did we put those blueprints? Do we even have blueprints? No? Well, no matter; you can just give me the instructions as we go. Rome wasn't built in a day, and we've got five more weeks to work together to create this new retreat. I've got to tell you, I'm quite excited for this venture. One of the greatest things about the CMA series is that it forces us to finally dive in and check out games we've been wanting to but never quite "found the time." Once it becomes a part of your daily job, you have no choice but to make the time! Darkfall was always one of those games for me, and my curiosity and interest was piqued even more with Unholy Wars. So let's get this started. First, we need a foundation.
We are all humans
Someone just asked me on Twitter if I thought humans in World of Warcraft are boring. I don't think that at all. I have several reasons for not thinking humans are boring, which I'll lay out for you now: Humans had/have the most elaborate and interesting political backstory in the game. The conflict between the House of Nobles, the stonemasons and craftsmen, and the House of Wrynn over Stormwind's rebuilding has led to the existence of the Defias Brotherhood, the machinations of the Black Dragonflight and the collapse of Stormwind's outlying territories. Westfall, Darkshire and Redridge are all cut off and fractured, and the aftermath of the war with the Lich King and the Cataclysm only kept the pressure on. Stormwind, as the last remaining human kingdom now that Theramore and Gilneas are effectively gone and Kul Tiras is missing, totters on the edge. Humans have a great tradition of loss and perseverance. The orcs lost a world, but they're the ones who destroyed it, so it's hard to sympathize with them. The humans rose from scattered refugees on an alien shore to seven mighty kingdoms that ruled much of the Eastern continent, and the loss of those kingdoms after the coming of the Burning Legion and the Scourge is a story of loss piled on loss, heartbreak piled on heartbreak. The refugees from Lordaeron that survived came to Stormwind, and it is that nation which has the lion's share of the burden of rebuilding from this staggering loss. Every other race in World of Warcraft is just a metaphor for humanity. I'll expand on point three now.
Path of Exile interview reveals plans for player-generated races
Although there is no Some Assembly Required in the title, don't let that fool you; today's focus is on one of the founding precepts of this column, player-generated content. It's just not sandboxy player-generated content like we've covered before. Today's special edition explores the PGC proposed for the decidedly non-sandbox action RPG Path of Exile. At GDC I sat down with managing director Chris Wilson and technical director Jonathan Rogers to discuss Path of Exile and their idea of adding player-run races to the game. A fan favorite, these timed gaming experiences are currently only officially sponsored events grouped into seasons, the first of which just concluded. However, devs would like to give players the opportunity to create and host unofficial events (meaning results won't have any bearing on the seasons) to allow players to enjoy this wildly popular facet of the game in a place where they can practice skills, test themselves against friends, or just enjoy a unique challenge.
