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The Daily Grind: What does it take to get you into a fantasy MMO?
Fantasy MMOs are everywhere. We're surrounded by them. The biggest subscription MMO currently out is fantasy, most of its peers are fantasy, and the safe assumption with any new game is that it's going to be a fantasy game. The total number of elves across all games would outnumber the population of Luxembourg. And with so many games drawing upon the same basic tropes, anyone in the world could be forgiven for not immediately jumping on a new game simply because it promises orcs and elves. Some games manage to take the fantasy conventions and push them quite far afield, either by viewing them through a separate cultural lens (Final Fantasy XIV and TERA spring to mind) or by moving the basic conventions in another direction (Allods Online and Guild Wars 2, for instance). But what does it take to get you into a fantasy MMO? Do you need a game that's so interesting you don't care about the setting? A truly original take on the setting? Some combination of both? Or do you just flee fantasy altogether? 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!
Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade offers up an Ork-themed newsletter
Yes, the Orks of Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade are bloodthirsty marauders who care only for the destruction of all they survey, but that doesn't mean they have to express themselves solely in monosyllabic grunts. The latest newsletter for the game is quite Orkish in its penmanship, and you'll find that it is quite comprehensibly the work of a literate Ork. And it contains some much-needed elucidation on matters of design and progress, which would make it a worthwhile read for any forward-looking fan of the game. One of the points touched upon is the game's business model. In essence, it appears that free players will be able to enjoy access to all races but not some of the more advanced character options, whilst players who buy the game get access to everything and those who pay more will have an even wider array of options. The game is apparently close to being ready for public display, something that will make all of the soon-to-be-deprived Orks of Warhammer Online happy for the future.
The Nexus Telegraph: Examining the Granok of WildStar
The Granok are the polar opposite of the Mechari. Where the latter are covered in mysteries and elements that don't make a whole lot of sense without invoking conspiracies, the former is a race that you can pretty much understand as soon as you see a trailer involving the race. They're rock people who like to fight things and probably blow stuff up, and they don't really need a whole lot in the way of subtlety. Discussion over. Enjoy WildStar's boisterous bruisers. Heck, the Granok are more Exiles by practice than anything. The Granok that we know aren't lending their support to the Exiles for nothing; these are mercenaries by trade, first and foremost. At a glance, you could easily see these men and women fighting alongside whichever of the two factions paid better. They certainly don't care about Nexus in particular. But they do care about a lot more than beer and a good scrap, and when you understand the race a bit more, that punch-drunk attitude starts to look a little thin.
City of Titans gives a cab's-eye view of the city
Superhero games aren't just about having fantastic powers; they're about the space you live in. Cities have characters all of their own; Metropolis is all gleaming idealism, Marvel's New York is like an enlarged version of the real New York, and Gotham City is approximately 85% gargoyles by volume. So it's important for City of Titans fans to know what Titan City is like before they start playing. And who better to explain the city than your average Titan City cab driver? As it turns out, pretty much every joke you can think of about superhuman battles has already been made. In a city filled with heroes, you know that every so often there's going to be a villain knocked through your office, and a support structure exists for dealing with just that eventuality. Read the full Kickstarter update for more details on how the game world works and how people can keep living in a city where you occasionally find a portal to nether dimensions opening right above your favorite Thai restaurant.
The end has come for this issue of WildStar's webcomic
WildStar's Victor Lazarin and Mondo Zax have interesting surprises in store for one another, according to the latest update to Carbine's Tales from Beyond the Fringe: Mystery and Mayhem Issue #001. This update marks the end of Issue #001, with the next issue likely to begin next week. Mystery and Mayhem follows the experiments of Lazarin and Zax, both leading innovators for their particular factions, as they create horrible creatures and generally do mad scientist-type things. Check out the exciting conclusion to Issue #001 over on the official site.
WildStar kicks off webcomic series Tales from Beyond the Fringe
Hey! You like comics, don't you? Of course you do, you're on the internet. Would you like to read a comic about WildStar? That's less of a given, but the team at Carbine Studios certainly hopes you'd like to take a look at the first issue of what promises to be an ongoing comic series. And because the creators know what webcomics are like, the first issue focuses exclusively on somewhat amusing sociopaths. The first installment of Tales from Beyond the Fringe is focusing upon Victor Lazarin and Mondo Zax -- or if you prefer titles, the maniac that accidentally cursed the entirety of the Mordesh to a perpetual undeath and the Chua so cleverly sadistic that he heads the Dominion's research division. You can take a look at the comic on the game's official site, with more slated to arrive on a weekly basis. [Source: Carbine Studios press release]
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!
Issue #7 of The Secret World lets you be a secret agent
The Secret World has given players plenty of conspiracies to uncover, villains to put down, and dangerous traps to escape. The latest update, Issue #7, takes that one step further and lets you go full-on into secret agent territory. A Dream to Kill features a hunt through corporate secrets, a dangerous alliance against the Orochi Group, and a high-speed snowmobile chase while evading goons. No Daniel Craig, but you can't have everything. You can, however, enjoy a new auxiliary weapon in the form of the flamethrower, which deals damage over time and provides several additional flame-related abilities. And as you could guess from the game, your fight against goons and corporate machinations includes plenty of disturbing imagery, strange symbolism, and all of the groundwork you need before players can finally begin exploring Tokyo. If you're still not convinced, jump on past the break to see the full trailer for the game, complete with narration by director Joel Bylos. [Source: Funcom press release]
Final Fantasy XI's Feast of Swords cuts into another year
We're just a month away from the 11-year anniversary of Final Fantasy XI, which means that certain events in the game have taken on a certain sense of routine. Every year the Feast of Swords comes around at the same time, and every year a ceremonial armor gets stolen. This year's lore piece isn't about the event, it's about the growing suspicion of an adventurer that there's more behind this annual event and "unexpected" theft than anyone has been told... But you don't need that as motivation to go beat up armor with a wooden katana, do you? Of course not. The event starts off on April 24th this year and runs until May 8th. The procedure is much the same as in previous years -- characters pick up a wooden katana, get a buff, and run around starter zones tying to beat up enchanted armor. It might be a conspiracy in-game, but out of the game it's just a chance for everyone to be a samurai for a few days.
Neverwinter shines the light on kobolds
Kobolds in Neverwinter aren't quite as pathetic as you might think. Sure, they're fairly weak in a stand-up fight, and they tend to run from any engagement unless they've got the advantage of numbers. But they can build up those numbers very quickly when they need to, and they're not as stupid as you might think. The latest Monster Manual entry shines more light on these diminutive reptilian creatures and what players can expect when they hear kobolds in the distance. Draconic worship is the order of the day for kobold clans, and while the dragons barely deign to notice their minions the kobolds treat their masters as incarnate deities. Their spellcasting Wyrmpriests direct the lesser members of the group to find more treasure for their chosen dragon, and they can also turn a dozen ragtag kobolds from a joke of an encounter into a fighting force to be reckoned with. They're not as intimidating as ogres, but get enough of the kobolds together and you should still be very afraid.
Star Trek Online celebrates First Contact Day on April 5th
If you believe the Star Trek franchise, April 5th will be a very important day in 50 years as the day that humanity makes its first contact with the Vulcans. It's definitely an important day in Star Trek Online as a result of the lore. To commemorate the in-universe historical event, the game will be hosting a special event from April 5th until April 11th. Players will be able to visit the Utopia Planitia shipyards orbiting Mars and celebrate Starfleet's legacy by meeting its latest and greatest ship. The latest incarnation of the Enterprise will be docked at the shipyards during this time, allowing players to meet the crew of the NCC-1701-F and pick up a non-combat replica of the Phoenix. Klingon players won't be left out of the celebration, as the Day of Honor will be running concurrently around Qo'Nos and players can pick up a special bat'leth. So whether you're part of the Federation or the Empire, it'll be a week of celebration for days that aren't very special now but will be in the future.
Final Fantasy XI gives more details on Adoulin for those who seek it
Final Fantasy XI is encouraging players to go west. Specifically, it's encouraging players to head west of the game's familiar continents to the city of Adoulin in the appropriately titled Seekers of Adoulin expansion. So it's probably in the best interests of players to know more about what Adoulin is all about, something that the most recent post on the official site discusses in depth. Adoulin as a name refers to both the city, more properly called the Sacred City of Adoulin, and the archipelago surrounding the main city. The city itself was originally the lynchpin of colonization efforts, but when attempts to colonize the main continent of Ulbuka were aborted two hundred years ago, the nation underwent several drastic changes to adapt to reduced living space and a need for mercantile expansion. Now the colonization is starting up again, something that will most likely serve as the main source of conflict within the expansion proper. For more details, including racial demographics and a preview of some of the major sights in the city, take a look at the full rundown.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: What makes a superhero game?
If I want, I can play the same character in Champions Online that I play in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Pick one, any one will work. I can also recreate my Shaman from World of Warcraft, my Dervish from Guild Wars, or my captain from Star Trek Online. And I don't mean that I can just recreate them within a fair margin of mechanical error; I mean that I can straight up cop the same origin story and everything. That being said, the characters in their original settings are not superheroes. That brings us to an interesting situation. Superheroes are in no small part defined by their abilities, but in another setting, those abilities are in no way out of the ordinary. So it's interesting to try to define what makes one game with mages and robots and supernaturally skilled swordsmen a superhero game while another one isn't.
The Mog Log: (Over)analyzing the Final Fantasy XIV trailer
Sadly, January 7th did not see the release of the new Final Fantasy XIV benchmark. It did, however, see the release of both the beta tester application and the full trailer for the new version, both of which are relevant to the interests of any Final Fantasy XIV fan. The trailer is likely of greater interest, seeing as how most current fans are likely already flagged as Legacy players and thus don't need to apply for testing, but the point is that both are out there. Of course, the new opening movie is the only piece of information we've had about the game for a little while, but it seems worth analyzing and examining even on its own merits. No, I'm not talking about speculating as to whether or not the guy on the horse who looks exactly like Odin is in fact Odin or not (spoiler, doy). I want to talk about what this means for the lore, what the overall effect is, and whether or not this monster of a trailer succeeds at what it's meant to do.
The Soapbox: Stop reminding me that I'm playing a game
To me, the most amazing part of a video game is the way that it can steal you away from the real world in a way that nothing else quite can. A good book or film will take your focus for several hours, but you're still aware that there's a layer between you and the media. A good game blurs that, lets you creep into the game world for a while and experience things you never would otherwise. There are moments of wonder and joy that you can feel from a few hours in games that are simply unmatched. So please, stop ruining it. MMOs in particular have gotten bad about this. It's ironic, as the genre as a whole lends itself to people taking a step into another world. But what's changed isn't a matter of systems or mechanics, just a sense of what designers feel are completely acceptable breaks between in-game reality and the real world. It's annoying. So stop reminding me that I'm playing a game, will you?
The Daily Grind: What licensed property would you prefer not to see as an MMO?
I've become completely enraptured by My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I'm not alone in this regard. But odd though it might sound, I'm not really hoping for the show to move into the MMO space soon or, well, ever. It's a great setting, and it's a lot of fun, but I just can't help but feel as if it would lose something in the translation, especially as it almost certainly would be designed trying to appeal to two vastly different age groups. Sometimes, even if we like a setting, it just doesn't translate well to an online game. Maybe it's too focused on a specific set of characters, maybe it's aimed at disparate audiences, maybe it just doesn't lend itself to much variety in gameplay. So what licensed property do you like that you would rather not see adapted to an online game? Or are you happy to see anything you like turned into 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!
Rumor: Blizzard's Titan is not a new IP and could be heading to consoles
What is Titan? All we know about it right now for sure is that it's being developed by Blizzard, and we've been told on occasion that the game is not a new installment of one of Blizzard's existing franchises. But that may not be the case. According to rumors collected by the fans over at Titan Focus, Titan may indeed be a spinoff of an existing IP and might even be aimed at the console market. The hints have been coming from a fan known in the community for being fairly reliable in his rumors, lending this some credibility, but it's still just a rumor at this point. If it's true, then we can expect the game to be tied to one of the existing Blizzard franchises, albeit not as a direct sequel. Considering how quiet the studio has been on the project for some time, we can only hope that the surfacing rumors are a sign we're getting closer to some hard information.
MMO Blender: Eliot ponders a fantastical fantasy
Fantasy, at this point, is almost tragically boring. That seems like a contradiction in terms. A fantasy setting is supposed to be fantastic by its very definition; you should be surrounded by neat and astonishing things at every term, immersed in a rich and baffling setting where magic is a valid explanation for almost everything. Unfortunately, we've seen so many versions of the same old fantasy setting that it's become boring. It's another round of the same elements with slightly different names, and while you can give them floppy ears and call them Asurans, they're still just gnomes with better public relations. So let's stick a fork in it and say we're done... or maybe not. There's some fantasy out there that could be collected into an interesting state, I think, something a bit further afield of the bog-standard elves and humans and dwarves dealing with dragons and whatever else. So let's mash this stuff up in a blender and see if we can't come up with some fantastic fantasy again.
The Elder Scrolls Online grapples with questions of race, story, and setting
You have questions about The Elder Scroll Online (probably many questions, yes?), and ZeniMax has a few answers in return. The developers took on a half-dozen queries from the community, many of which were concerned with setting and story, not to mention why typical adversaries are working together all of the sudden. If you're concerned that the three factions will offer thinly veiled copies of each other's quests, the devs have good news: "Each Alliance's content in TESO is as varied and dynamic as the Alliances themselves are -- your adventures an Argonian in the Ebonheart Pact, for example, will be quite different than those of a Bosmer in the Aldmeri Dominion." Another player asked how similar places will be that are covered in both the single-player titles and the MMO; the devs replied, "The stories and events that unfold in these areas during The Elder Scrolls Online will be different than those in past Elder Scrolls games. The people living in these familiar places won't be too different from their brethren in later times; however, they will have different views and tales to tell, based on the current events that are impacting their daily lives."
The Elder Scrolls Online updates its site and adds a story page
The Elder Scrolls Online does not want for backstory. If anything, its biggest obstacle is the surfeit of backstory presented over the course of five games, enough so that even setting the game during a previously unexplored time can cause issues. So it's not surprising that along with a massive overhaul to the official website, the game's team has put together a new story page providing series fans with a solid set of information to place the upcoming game in the context of its fellow installments. Seeing that page may still not entirely comfort longtime fans of the lore, which is why the site has also provided a new article explaining how the team at ZeniMax Online Studios is handling writing for TESO. The short version is that the game has intentionally been set in a time period during which players have plenty of space to shape the world without derailing future parts of the game, and the team has been working very hard to keep the lore of the new game in line with past and future developments.
