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Choose My Adventure: Extreme DIY makeover edition
Life may be like a box of chocolates, but gaming is like a Do-It-Yourself project. It may not be as mouth-watering an analogy, but it is certainly fitting: MMOs are a giant construction zone where players build their own experiences in a virtual world using tools from the game and their own imagination. Each project is a unique undertaking, bearing the personal touches of the builder, whether the builder is an individual or a group like a guild. Some players prefer to build a single residence and settle in, while others enjoy moving from project to project, exploring new territory and testing new tools. Me? I tend toward the former; I'm the kind who tinkers around in one place over a long period of time. But all that's about to change. Again. That's right, folks; it's my turn to break ground on yet another Choose My Adventure! For the next six weeks I am leaving the comfy confines of my familiar surroundings and allowing you to direct my next MMO project. Yes, my dear Massively friends, you will be the foreman of this endeavor, determining every step of the construction, from where I'll build my newest experience to what tools I'll get to use.
Four minutes of this week's episode of Defiance
Did you enjoy the first episode of Defiance last Monday? We thought so. If you can't wait to see what's happening in the first four minutes of the next episode, then we have you covered. Tensions are rising as central characters Nolan and Irisa come head-to-head with ancient laws and religions within the city of Defiance, and we're sure that what happens next is going to impact the ragtag community for many episodes after. Nolan has donned the star of the local lawman and stepped right into the middle of a Castithan ceremony, something that does not sit well with Datak Tarr, the local crime boss. Even after they fought in battle together, is it be possible for these two headstrong characters to bury the hatchet for good? Can't they all just get along? It's TV, so no, no they cannot. Click past the cut to watch the video!
Defiance producer addresses issues in recent patch
No launch period is without its stresses, bugs, and crises. Defiance Executive Producer Nathan Richardsson took some time to address some of the recent drama brought on by patching in new content and fixes. He called on the old adage that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions," explaining that some of the problems in the most recent patch were due to the team wanting to get content out too quickly. "I could have pushed less and said 'no' and had it longer in testing and prepared better," Richardsson explained. He also stated that some of the problems couldn't have been caught with more thorough testing because of the differences between the live and test environments. He concluded that the team is determined to do its best by Defiance, as "she deserves it." It's quite the delicate balance, we're sure, to deal with the fact that your game is out and being adored and also that it's got some vital issues. Richardsson summed up those feelings with, "I can go from sad to twerk in a heartbeat." You can check out an ever-updating list of known issues here. Until the next patch, keep on twerkin' on.
Firefall open beta starts July 9th
If you're in the market for a new sci-fi shooter this summer, mark July 9th on your calendar. That's the date that Red 5 has set aside for Firefall's open beta. IGN reports that the game will also see "major milestones" in the months of May and July. These include a new UI, crafting and progression tweaks, city power levels, Chosen instances, and Melding exploration. Firefall is an open-world MMO shooter with skill-based combat and a free-to-play business model.
Syfy touts Defiance premiere numbers
Syfy is patting itself on the back for what was apparently a very successful Defiance series premiere. The new drama debuted last night with a feature-length pilot that set the stage for the series' regular Monday night time slot in the U.S. Syfy says the premiere was its most-watched scripted show among adults aged 18 to 49 since the 2006 premiere of Eureka. Defiance also drew 2.7 million total viewers, which was good enough for first place over 2009's Warehouse 13. Trion's Defiance shooter MMO has seen players rack up more than 6 million hours of gameplay since its April 2nd debut. [Source: Syfy press release]
Defiance gameplay trailer highlights the Ark Hunter story
Last night, the TV half of the multimedia Defiance experience launched, drawing players into the story of the town by the same name. Today, Trion Worlds expanded the narrative of this new world, releasing a new trailer highlighting the life of the Ark Hunters and delving into the events that led to the current state of the world. As Ark Hunters, players of the shooter comb the world to collect valuable Ark technology while facing danger in the partially terraformed lands. Did you catch the premiere episode of Defiance on TV last night? If so, tell us what you thought in the comments below. And watch the Ark Hunter action in the video after the break. [Source: Trion Press release]
First major bug-smashing update to be released for Defiance
After the successful release of the MMO-half of Defiance, Trion Worlds has announced that it will soon release the first major update to the game. Patch 1.010 is a laundry list of fixes for everything from NPC AI problems to mission text typos to animation flubs to increased rewards, but the most important one is right at the top: "Improved server and client stability." If you've had issues with the game since launch, you might want to check out these fixes and see how much they will improve the game for you. Update: The original version of this article implied the patch has already launched; this is not the case, so the post has been updated accordingly. Thank you to everyone who sent in the correction!
Defiance hands out compensation package to players
Defiance players are in for a little treat for their patience during a tumultuous opening week. Trion Worlds acknowledged the various issues that the game and its community have gone through, and thus the studio has put together a gift package as a way to thank customers for their patronage. Current players have received several bonuses in their account, including a "Daredevil" exclusive title and one-week boosts to weapons skill, scrip, loot, and XP. "We hope this shows you that we do appreciate you on this journey of Defiance, trying out something new, trying something different," wrote Executive Producer Nathan Richardsson. [Thanks to Balance for the tip!]
Defiance unveils the Ark Hunter Chronicles Director's Cut
Ah, the life of an Ark Hunter. Fresh air, flexible hours, and huge amounts of gunplay in a hunt for valuable technology. There's even a nice benefits package. It's all made totally clear in the Ark Hunter Chronicles Director's Cut from Defiance, a motion comic showing off what it means to go from being some random guy with a gun and flexible morals to being a genuine Ark Hunter. The full cut does feature a fair amount of blood, swearing, and violence, so it's probably not safe for your workplace or any younger children watching over your shoulder. But it's quite effective at conveying some of the atmosphere of Defiance if you haven't yet jumped into the game or you're waiting to see if the show is any good. So jump on past the break to check out the video in its entirety; although we should warn you it doesn't contain instructions for submitting your own Ark Hunter resume.
McCreary creates 'vast musical history' for Defiance
Bear McCreary has posted a Defiance-related update on his official website. The composer, known for scoring Syfy's reimagined Battlestar Galactica television series as well as video games including Dark Void, says that Defiance was one of the biggest challenges of his career. "I was tasked with writing a daunting amount of music, including two hours of energetic music for the videogame, and nearly eight hours of score for the thirteen-episode season," McCreary explains. "During all this, I constantly juggled a dozen or so character themes and followed intricately crafted story arcs." McCreary also contributed to Defiance world-building over the course of the project's five-year development history. His duties included designing distinct musical styles for each of the Votan races, producing "detailed treatises on the design, construction, and functionality of Votan instruments," and ultimately creating a "vast musical history" for the world of Defiance. Finally, McCreary hints at more Defiance-related details to come via his ongoing blog. You can preview the Defiance soundtrack by clicking past the cut and watching the Theme from Defiance video.
Earthrise: First Impact shows off new alpha footage
When Earthrise closed down in early 2012, many MMO fans chalked it up to another failure in a growing heap of MMO ideas. German publisher SilentFuture snatched the IP and assets up a few months later and are happily chugging along with the game's alpha as we speak. But this still left many of us skeptical about the potential success of something that's already failed once. Earlier today, the devs released two alpha-footage videos showing off the Earthrise: First Impact's improved character creator and a bit of running around in the game world. You can see both videos after the jump below and be sure to head on over to the game's Facebook page to let the devs know what you think of the footage. [Thanks to David for the tip!]
Defiance's Richardsson on dev priorities, DLC, and more
Nathan Richardsson is back with another dev diary status update for Trion's newly launched Defiance shooter. The long and short of it is that yes, the team is aware of and working on issues like items disappearing in the salvage matrix, chat issues, and server crashes. Richardsson also says that the DLC he mentioned in the previous dev diary has now been pushed back to allow more time for bug fixes and post-launch polish. He also lists a loose outline of Trion's dev team priorities. Full cluster crashes get top priority, followed by game server crashes, live gameplay issues, upcoming patches, and DLC. You can read the full diary at the official Defiance website.
Trion apologizes for Defiance issues, outlines contract system
Ready for some more Defiance updates? Good, because Trion and Syfy are obliging with a couple of news blurbs and another TV spot. First up is executive producer Nathan Richardsson's day four game diary, in which he mentions that the dev team is hard at work addressing connectivity and patching issues, server crashes, chat and VOIP problems, and the problematic U.S. Xbox server cluster. "After five years of creating this, it saddens us and frustrates us that you aren't getting the great experience we strove to create. The upside is that it makes us quite determined to get you there," Richardsson writes. On a happier note, the Defiance blog updated on Friday with a look at the game's contract system. Contracts are basically missions that offer extra rewards, and you can find them under the goals section of your EGO menu. They refresh on a daily and weekly basis and offer scaling rewards. Finally, Syfy has released a new 30-second teaser for the television show which you'll find after the break.
Defiance devs put priority on operational issues
Day three of Defiance's launch week is upon us, bringing with it a new post from the Dev Blog Fairy. The game has been hit with some nasty lag, courtesy of the "very complicated but wonderful beast" that is the Xbox cluster. A lot of people are watching data, analyzing things, fiddling with hardware, and generally trying to get to the bottom of the whole ordeal. The devs' first priority is to deal with the continued Xbox issues (namely, the lag and server crashes), followed by solving the mysterious case of the disappearing items. The team is also trying to deal with game server crashes across all platforms, as well as connectivity and patching issues. A huge patch with scads of updates is coming on or around the 15th ("hopefully sooner, possibly later"), so keep the faith. We've also got a new Ark Hunters video just after the cut.
Massively's Defiance launch week diary: Recap
By popular forum-rager demand, I present to you Massively's "real" Defiance launch week impressions. I guess some folks aren't satisfied with the general contentment expressed in the diaries I posted Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and they need a chance to vent. So for those people: Defiance is the worst launch ever! It's worse than Anarchy Online! My pet peeves from alpha/beta haven't been fixed, and worse yet, Trion has not called me personally to apologize! Boo-hoooooooo! Oh, you did actually come here to read some day four Defiance impressions? Good. Today's entry is going to be a recap of sorts because my brief play session last night was likely my last until the TV show's debut. I feel sorta bad typing that because ultimately I want to like Defiance more than I do, not because I spent 60 bucks on it but because I think Trion has the makings of a title with some staying power. After 20 hours of play, though, I feel as if I've seen enough until the game matures a little bit. No forum rage required.
Defiance team prioritizing fixes for crashes, lag
The excitement, fun, chaos, and occasional frustration that swirls around every MMO launch is squarely on Defiance's shoulders this week, so Trion Worlds Executive Producer Nathan Richardsson is back with a follow-up to yesterday's post to discuss what the team is currently addressing. Richardsson says that the team has to be agile and that its priorities change on a daily basis. Because of this, today's critical issues are different from yesterday's; the team is working on game server crashes, lag, patching woes, and client crashes. He promised that yesterday's issues were still being worked on, just that these were more important for the time being. He did say that console account linking with the Arkhunter website should be resolved, and that the team's already put out a couple of patches in the last 24 hours with another one on the way to make the play experience more smooth.
Massively's Defiance launch week diary: Day three
You know what? Defiance's PvP is pretty enjoyable. Most of that enjoyment stems from my ability to actually kill people, contrary to typical MMO themeparks where I stand no chance against gear grinders and theorycrafters who have bested me before I even manage to tab target them. Here you have to aim, dodge, roll, reload, and do all that crazy skill-based stuff that shooters make you do, and while my K/D ratio is reminding me of the fact that I'm getting old and slow, it's still been a blast. Last night I dipped my toes into something called Shadow War, which is Defiance's answer to open world PvP.
New Defiance TV spot features Mayor Rosewater
This week's Defiance media assault continues, the latest salvo of which is a new trailer for the television show featuring Defiance mayor Amanda Rosewater. Rosewater is played by actress Julie Benz, and the 30-second spot provides a bit of insight into the trials and tribulations she encounters while trying to hold her community together. Defiance the TV show premieres on April 15th. Defiance the game is now playable on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. If you're on the fence about the title, check out our ongoing launch-week impression series as well as our livestream footage. The new trailer is embedded after the break.
Trion Worlds promises that it's addressing critical Defiance issues
Executive Producer Nathan Richardsson has mixed emotions in regards to Defiance's release. "This first day of launch of Defiance has been as awesome as we expected it to be," he wrote in a state of the game post. "And by awesome, I mean we're neck deep addressing all the issues that come up when you scale something up to a million people from a test environment of thousands." Richardsson promised that the large Trion team is working hard to "update, patch, fix, and improve" Defiance post-launch. The most critical problems that he identifies are connectivity problems, missing pre-order items, the scaling of bosses and arkfalls, and broken chat and VOIP. "We appreciate the trust that you are showing us by coming with us and we will address all these issues," he concludes. Speaking of awesome, check out the main theme to Defiance, composed by Bear McCreary, after the jump!
Massively's Defiance launch week diary: Day two
Welcome to day two of Massively's Defiance launch week diary. I've put a little over seven hours into Trion's MMO shooter thus far, so that zomg-it's-a-new-game! glow has worn off and I'm able to see things more objectively (i.e., find things to criticize). That said, I'm still having a good bit of fun, so join me after the cut to find out why.
