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Paradox halting Runemaster 'until further notice'
Paradox Interactive's fantasy epic Runemaster is taking a perma-break. Revealed early this year, with a console edition announced at Gamescom, the publisher is casting a freeze spell on the game's development "until further notice." "Runemaster was a very ambitious project for us, and the team working on it brought all of their passion, dedication, and talent to the table," said Paradox COO Susana Meza Graham. "Despite our best efforts and a couple of re-scopes, Runemaster in its current form was unable to live up to the standards we set for ourselves here at Paradox."
Norse fantasy epic Runemaster reaches PS4 in 'early 2015'
Publisher Paradox Interactive has announced that its upcoming, previously PC-exclusive fantasy epic Runemaster will appear on consoles, specifically the PlayStation 4. Runemaster marks a drastic departure for developer Paradox Development Studio. If you know the name, it's likely from the studio's cult-hit grand strategy games such as Crusader Kings 2 and Europa Universalis 4. Runemaster, by contrast, is a relatively traditional fantasy roleplaying game developed for both new-generation consoles and the PC that drops players into the dark realm of Norse fantasy. Players are given a choice between two genders and six races (each of which boasts unique questlines), and are given free rein to explore a largely open world. "Replaybility is a core value for us at Paradox; the best games are those that you can revisit time and time again," stated Paradox Interactive in a recent PlayStation.blog entry. There's no solid release date for Runemaster just yet, though Paradox is aiming for an "early 2015" PlayStation 4 launch. Paradox has made no mention of other consoles that the fantasy roleplaying game might eventually reach, but the publisher has also not ruled out the possibility. [Image: Paradox Interactive]
Paradox Interactive unveils Hearts of Iron 4, Norse RPG Runemaster
Straight from the halls of the ongoing Paradox Convention in Miami comes word of two new games from development studio Paradox Interactive: a new entry in the fan-favorite Hearts of Iron series and a roleplaying game dubbed "Runemaster." Hearts of Iron 4 is a grand strategy game focused on World War II. Like Paradox's other grand strategy offerings, Hearts of Iron 4 is said to offer players "the most authentic real-time simulation of World War II to date." Little is known of the game beyond that quote, though based on prior Hearts of Iron games we expect an exacting attention to detail, reams of historical data and the freedom to control nearly any faction involved in the second World War. Runemaster, by contrast, is a departure for Paradox Interactive. Instead of the strategy games it usually produces, Paradox has instead set its sights on a roleplaying game based on Norse mythology. According to the developer's short description, Runemaster will feature "[p]rocedural maps and quests" which should keep the experience fresh longer than pre-scripted areas and missions. "We're always playing RPGs in our spare time and discovering new things we love about them as a game genre; it was only natural that sooner or later we'd have to design our own," stated studio manager Johan Andersson. "Runemaster is the result, and we know our fans will love it." Both Hearts of Iron 4 and Runemaster are in relatively early stages of development. Neither has a release date as of yet, but more information can be found on the barebones websites Paradox recently launched for each game.
Ulduar on the 3.1 PTR: The Iron Council
Last night was round 2 of the Ulduar encounter testing on the 3.1 PTR, and after last night's attempts at Hodir, my guildies and waste-of-a-raid-spot coworker were excited to get back into the beautiful Titan dinner party and sink our teeth into another new encounter. And if we wanted a snack, we got ourselves a three-course meal: The Iron Council, a veritable Three's Company of dudes made of metal. Except Three's Company really had one dude in it regularly, and the other two were women. And none of the Iron Councilmen are Councilwomen. Clearly Iron society is not as progressive as ours. As expected, the server couldn't be convinced to just let us get in and do what we needed to do, so we spent an inordinately long time logging in, stalling at the loading screen, getting in, crashing out, getting stuck in queue, swearing loudly in Ventrilo, and getting alcohol to ease the pain.But we did manage to try the fight a few times. This writeup is spoiler-heavy! If you don't wish to know anything about the strategy for this or any Ulduar boss, don't click below. You've been warned.
WoW Future-Vision: Express train to the level cap
The year is 2012. WoW fans are excitedly awaiting the game's 5th expansion, Revenge of the Gnomes, which brings two new races to the game (Sporeggar and Goblins, at last!), as well as a new class (the Tinker), and a slew of other features. As everyone knows, this is the expansion where the gnomes finally take back Gnomeregan from the troggs, pushing them back all the way into the "Undergloom," a vast and ancient network of caverns beneath Azeroth. Of course, the gnomes also accidentally stumble upon the long-buried prison of the Old Gods and unleash unbridled havoc on the World of Warcraft, but that's where the fun is, right?I could go on and on about the new features included in Revenge of the Gnomes, but I'm sure you've heard about most of them already (like the subterranean hovercraft group-mounts and blue-pill, red-pill potions for alchemy). Suffice it to say that the feature everyone is most excited about is that the level cap is once again being raised another 10 levels, to a grand total of 110. Like everyone else, you're probably wondering how in the world (of Warcraft) are you going to level your new Goblin Tinker character all the way through those tedious levels of 1 to 100? Everyone wants to try out the new content, but no one wants to slave away through Stranglethorn Vale for the 48th time. To complicate things further, Blizzard still doesn't want to add any more 1-60 quests in the lower-level zones (not to mention any of the Outland, Northrend, Emerald Dream, or Great Sea Expansion zones)! Fortunately, though, Blizzard's got what you need! Are you prepared for the "/level" command?
