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Black Gold Online unleashes the Beastmaster
Snail Games has announced the new Beastmaster class for its steampunk-flavored MMO Black Gold Online. As you might imagine, the Beastmaster commands beasts and the power of nature. Its main role is that of summoner and crowd control, but with heavy mail armor and two-handed weapons at its disposal, the class can also do a fair bit of tanking. Special moves include Law of the Jungle, a stealth ability that increases critical hit damage; Thunder-crack, a spell that summons a powerful tropical storm; and Spirit Creature, an area-of-effect spell that causes damage to a wide area. Be sure to check out the official class announcement for more info and screenshots of this new class. [Thanks to Novas for the tip!]
Cait Sith avatar coming to Final Fantasy XI
The latest bit of Final Fantasy XI fan service takes the form of Cait Sith. More specifically, FFXI Summoners are getting a Cait Sith avatar which will offer various types of magic damage as well as anti-wipe spells like raise and re-raise. ZAM reports on a new Caith Sith acquisition quest, which requires that players complete the Wings of the Goddess "A Token of Troth" mission. More details are available on the FFXI forums.
Dungeon Defenders shifts into an RTS with Summoner hero class
Dungeon Defenders has expanded its perspective on PC and Mac gameplay (and probably life and love and stuff) with the new Summoner character, who can conduct battle from on high as if in an RTS. Overlord Mode allows the Summoner to supervise entire armies from a top-down perspective, altering the game entirely.Along with omniscient battle control, the Summoner gets two pets, can levitate for 15 seconds, build an army from sentient crystal and basically wreak havoc on the battlefield, as the above video shows. The Summoner DLC pack is available via Steam for $4.%Gallery-156098%
The Game Archaeologist looks at Guild Wars Utopia
Aztecs. Chronomancers. Mounts. Halberds. Golems. Dual wielding. These are all but a hint of what a fourth Guild Wars campaign could have been, a campaign that was under development in the mid-2000s but was scrapped by 2007. Replacing it was the expansion Guild Wars Eye of the North and the workings of a super-secret sequel to the game (which you've probably never heard of). It was the forgotten campaign, swept under a rug while it was still under the rug. But what if, in some alternative timeline, ArenaNet had gone ahead with this campaign? What if it became an established part of the Guild Wars legacy, as familiar to us today as Nightfall and Factions? What if Guild Wars Utopia had lived?
New Blade & Soul videos show Summoner gameplay, qinggong abilities
Looking for some more Summoner gameplay after that pet reveal last weekend? Korean MMO website ThisIsGame has you covered with a new Blade & Soul preview video. We get to see three minutes of combat footage, including plenty of killer kitty-cats and spell-casting action. The video quality isn't the greatest, but it's definitely interesting to see the Summoner in action for an extended period. NCsoft has also released a new one-minute qinggong trailer. The clip shows several Blade & Soul avatars in all their wall-running, high-flying, gravity-defying glory (and this time it's a high-quality embed). Check out both videos after the break. [Thanks to Tym for the tip!]
Watch 17 minutes of unadulterated Blade & Soul PvP footage
There's nothing that South Korean gamers love more than hot-blooded PvP, which is why they went bananas to see NCsoft's Blade & Soul's player-vs.-player combat live at the recent Soul Party 2. In two filmed videos by ThisIsGame.com, testers give the game's intense, kinetic action a workout during a 20v20 PvP match. The characters' full range of motion is on display in these clips, as are their various methods of impaling, soul-sucking, and fireballing opponents. Blade & Soul recently announced its adorable Summoner class, which will be playable when the game heads into its third closed beta test on May 9th. And yes, you have our full permission to stay up past your bedtime to watch the following PvP bout.
New Blade & Soul trailer shows off Summoner pets
NCsoft has released a new trailer for Blade & Soul's Summoner class. As you might expect, the Summoner is a pet-handling heroine who relies on her animal companions for much of her utility. What you may not have expected is the form those animals will take. Prior to this particular trailer, Blade & Soul has gone with a fairly serious high-fantasy approach to its world and character design. Thanks to the Summoner pets, the cuteness factor has gone through the roof. Don't take our word for it, though. Head past the cut and see for yourself. [Thanks to Blade&Soul Fan for the tip!]
Blade & Soul nearing commercial release, adding Summoner class
NCsoft is loath to talk about its Blade & Soul martial arts MMORPG here in the West, so we have to rely on third-party fansites and Chinese/Korean translations for most of our info. The latest such comes courtesy of MMO Culture, and it features an interview from a recent Tencent Games media event with a couple of newsworthy notables. First up is the fact that upcoming Korean and Chinese Blade & Soul beta phases will feature the new Summoner class. Not much is known in terms of class specifics yet, but the site says that it boasts an "easier" and "more relaxed" playstyle than other classes. The interview also touches on Blade & Soul's business model and its impending release. Despite the fact that NCsoft titles like Aion and Lineage II have recently committed to free-to-play in North America, the firm isn't talking about any particular Blade & Soul payment model just yet. Finally, MMO Culture reports that Blade & Soul "is currently near the end of the development phase for commercial release," and given the lack of info on a Western client, we expect said release to be exclusive to the Chinese and Korean markets for now.
The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XI classes, round four
One of the funny things about writing a regular column is that sometimes, when you start out writing a series of connected columns on a topic, you have a point you want to make. Other times, you find a point making itself as you go, and you realize that it's a pretty good point. After our first three columns covering the various classes in Final Fantasy XI, that effect is on my mind, especially as I move into the fourth installment. As before, the standard caveats apply. Nothing below is meant to debate relative power levels or overall worth; instead, I'll judge the class solely on its own merits -- how much does it offer other jobs, does it have a unique mechanical identity or not, and how cool is the darn thing. With that in mind, let's round out the advanced jobs from the core game with Beastmaster, Summoner, and Bard!
Blade & Soul interview talks Summoner class, customization
Blade & Soul's second Korean closed beta test is winding down, and ThisIsGame.com has cornered a couple of NCsoft devs for a quick interview about the upcoming martial arts MMORPG. Project director Jae Hyun Bae and director of system design Sung Jin Hwang talk about everything from the latest class reveal (the Summoner) to mobile platform and social networking tie-ins to the game's extensive character customization. Said customization is "almost unlimited. NPCs in the game are actually made by not modeling but customizing each. Blade & Soul will provide the most free customizing system ever so far," according to the devs. It's somewhat unclear as to whether this customization will take the form of character skills and abilities or physical differentiation via body types and personalization options. It's also worth noting that some of the article's information may have been lost in translation, and if your Korean language skills are up to the task, you can read the full original text on ThisIsGame's main site.
Dragonica expansion bringing new race, class, and mountable pets
There's a new Dragonica expansion in the works, and gPotato and Gala Networks Europe have issued a new press release outlining a few details from the upcoming New Origin patch. The expansion launches this September, and looks to be the largest content update in Dragonica's history. What's the big deal? For starters, the patch will bring about a new playable race and mountable pets. Strangely, today's press release doesn't mention the new race by name, and instead says that it will "arrive with an entirely new player class" that uses summoning magic in some form, and "differ[s] significantly from [the] classes currently available." As for the new mount system, gPotato says that players may use their existing pets and may also deploy the mounts during battle. The expansion will include new pets as well, and we'll bring you more on all the New Origin content in the near future.
The Mog Log: We all live in a community submarine
This week, like the week before, has seen an explosion of controversy about Final Fantasy XIV. I have not really taken part, as I have been far too busy playing Final Fantasy XIV to care one way or the other. But after a month of people's impressions, it seems like the perfect time to dive back into the meat of the community topics -- much like we did last month around the same time, as a matter of fact. Sadly, Final Fantasy XI has been fairly quiet, both due to the anger generation systems its successor features and due to a general sense of community burnout. After all, we're about two months away from another version update, and thus far we've heard nothing about what's due for December. Still, jump on past the cut for discussions about Final Fantasy XI as well as FFXIV, with the usual dosage of commentary to accompany each.
NYCC 2010: Our interview with FFXIV's Sage Sundi and Yasu Kurosawa
If there were an award for the most controversial game on Massively, that award would probably have to go to Final Fantasy XIV. It's a game with a very different approach to many of the elements that are considered de rigueur for MMOs, which has produced a great deal of affection from some players, a great deal of enmity from others, and a flamewar that burgeons in nearly any thread about even the most innocuous news. I had a chance to sit down at New York Comic Con with Sage Sundi, FFXIV's global online producer, and Yasu Kurosawa, FFXIV's North American online producer. It was certainly an interesting experience to chat with two of the people responsible in no small part for one of my personal favorite games, but both gentlemen were very polite to discuss the game, its worldwide community, and what lessons had been learned already from launch.
Further job adjustments en route for Final Fantasy XI
Due out next week, Final Fantasy XI's September version update is going to increase the level cap once again, giving jobs access to a plethora of new abilities. But the development team isn't stopping there. Several existing job abilities will also be seeing improvements and refinements, with a number of the upgrades targeting the many pet classes in the game. Even the smallest upgrades are notable improvements to quality of life, such as blue magic remaining set when the job is changed out as a main job, rather than forcing players to re-select their abilities. Summoners can look forward to more effective Blood Pacts and reduced sustain costs past level 76, while beastmasters gain additional jug pets, as well as changes to pet food to tier the existing types and make them more effective. Dragoons will receive a wyvern that levels up in Abyssea; puppetmasters gain a new way to call their automaton and a faster recharge for the summon; and several other class abilities see their negatives removed and positives enhanced. Nearly every player will want to take a look at the full list of changes, which should help ensure that even with Final Fantasy XIV on approach, Final Fantasy XI will remain engaging.
Hellgate: London class overview
I am having a blast playing Hellgate: London, but it took me a while to sort through the different classes and choose one for playthrough. After dabbling with them all, I have settled on the Summoner as my current favorite. Following is a very general breakdown of the different classes to help you choose which one to try.The TemplarsThese are the melee classes. They have some good survivability skills, especially when surrounded by mobs.Guardians: This is the standard tank class -- sword, shield, the best armor, etc. They can also do a decent amount of melee damage and can acquire a healing aura at level 2 which heals the Guardian more as the number of mobs attacking increases.Blademaster: DPS Melee. If you like dual wielding blades, the Blademaster is your class. They can also carry shields if you like and get auras of their own like the Guardians.
