trolls
Latest
The Anvil of Crom: Blood, glory, and some Deathwish impressions
Oy, Funcom, you're absolutely killing me here. Last week I had a column written prior to a guess-what-we're-launching-Unchained-today announcement. This week I was typing away on a review of some of the new instance content that showed up alongside the F2P update when the hey-Blood-and-Glory-launches-tomorrow bomb dropped. A veritable mad scramble ensued here at The Anvil of Crom offices, and as the piles of wadded up loose-leaf and discarded notes fluttered about, I was left wondering when my previous two pieces were going to see the light of day. If I sound somewhat perturbed, I'm not really, as this is a fantastic spot for any game columnist -- or Age of Conan fan -- to occupy. There's a lot of new content and not enough time to write about it; really we should all be so lucky. Sooo, that's my lengthy way of saying won't you join me after the cut for some initial impressions of hardcore PvP, AoC-style.
The Game Archaeologist sees The Shadow of Yserbius
Really, I blame my parents for not being filthy rich. If they were, we could've afforded the $130/month unlimited subscription fee to the ImagiNation Network (INN) back in the early '90s. Just think! All of the gaming, the socializing, and the roleplaying that you could handle -- for such a low price! I mean, sure, there were hourly options, but who'd want to play for a mere five hours a month? So instead of becoming part of a growing online community, I had to be content with my SNES and copy of Chrono Trigger -- hard times, indeed. Sometimes I think how my life would've been different if we had subscribed to Sierra's colorful online world, because I would've had a chance to get in on one of the first graphical MMOs: The Shadow of Yserbius. It was a step forward in graphic quality from the text-only MUDs of the day but perhaps a step backward from the complexity that many MUDs brought to the table. Still, for a few shining years, it entranced thousands who lined up to delve dungeons deeply alongside their friends (and a couple of complete strangers with odor disorders). Today we're going to take a quick peek at one of the first MMOs that stepped into the realm of lush color and animations and see what made The Shadow of Yserbius so enduring.
Free for All: A few tips for the indie developer
I am no developer, nor do I have dreams of one day becoming one. I absolutely love having the ability to write about what I like and to interact with those who enjoy (or hate) what I write. Developers have their hands and tongues tied much of the time, and often the indie developer gets no credit whatsoever. Granted, if artistic release or programming is your thing, I say go for it. But I will absolutely admit to wanting attention most of all -- it's what I like to do. Over the years, I have visited more independent MMO sites and played more independent MMOs than I care to recount. Still, not a week goes by when I do not find a new one to look at, and so I file it away for future use. I am often amazed at some of the mistakes indie developers make -- such obvious ones, too. I try to remind myself that the garage-coder is not always the best choice for graphic designer, so sometimes the websites and logos of these tiny companies look like they were hosted on Geocities. I decided to have some fun and throw down some general rules that I apply to indie developers. Take them or leave them, but I think that they are based on quite a bit of observation. Feel free to add any of your own. Click past the cut and let's get to them!
Know Your Lore: Zul'Gurub, a historical survey
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. The Gurubashi trolls were once the greatest empire of jungle trolls in the world, rivals to the great forest troll empire of Zul'Aman to the north and a power to be reckoned with. Their tens of thousands of years of history have seen wave after wave of humiliation, defeat and loss, and they are without a doubt responsible for much of that defeat. They have consorted with powers not to be trifled with and driven their neighboring troll tribes into slavery or exile. The empire of the Gurubashi, centered in their great city of Zul'Gurub, was founded after the great war with the Aqir that forever divided the insect state into the distant northern Nerubians and the southern Qiraji. While this defeat was near-total for the arthropod empire, it also fractured troll society forever. Before the war, the Zandalar tribe had stood preeminent, although it was the Amani and Gurubashi who led the charge against the Aqir. Theirs was the hereditary rulership of all troll tribes, theirs was the way of scholarship and it was to them that the hereditary priesthood of the trolls derived its furthest development. Yet none of these facts could prevent the division of the trolls. After the war, a weakened and shaken Zandalar tribe found itself no longer the center of troll society. It still ruled the ancient birthplace of all trolls, it was still respected ... but the power had forever shifted to the Amani and Gurubashi, and it was not to shift back for tens of thousands of years. (Spoilers for the Zul'Gurub 5-man are in this post.)
Breakfast Topic: What happens next?
The leader short stories Fire and Iron and The Judgment were great pieces of Cataclysm lore and recent history that shed some light on the motivations of Outland hero Kurdran Wildhammer and embattled troll leader Vol'jin of the Darkspear tribe. Each of the Cataclysm leaders is getting the short story treatment as time goes on. We don't know many of the stories left to tell in Cataclysm. The future of the blood elves lies in the unpublished prose of Lor'themar Theron's short story. Sylvanas' potential madness and craziness can have explanations hidden in those words. While the Firelands will continue the story of the rejuvenation of Hyjal, we still have much to learn about Malfurion and Tyrande and the night elves in general. So what comes next? Will these stories shed light on these leaders and their peoples' futures? Can we expect timely lore reveals through these stories that will do part of the story advancement? Personally, I'm really excited for the next story.
The Anvil of Crom: Time to move on?
Welcome back to The Anvil of Crom, Conan fans. This week I'm going to tackle something a bit off the beaten path. I've been messing around with the Refuge of the Apostate on various toons, and our Choose My Adventure Bear Shaman is holding in his late 30s as I attempt (so far in vain) to get some dungeon time in before moving on to the Field of the Dead. Something's been on my mind lately, though, something that's not entirely unique to Age of Conan but is nonetheless a significant part of the overall fan experience. In a nutshell, I'd like to discuss AoC's community, and at the risk of offending (or more likely, inciting) portions of it, why it's so unfortunate.
Blizzard's short story series continues with Vol'jin: The Judgment
Patch 4.1 is all trolls, trolls, trolls. You know what? I love the trolls. With the emergence of the Zandalari trolls as stewards of a new troll empire, the rearming of the Gurubashi and Amani tribes, and Vol'jin's staunch opposition to the direction of the troll peoples of Azeroth, we've got a lot on our plate in terms of lore. Blizzard's leader short story series continues with "The Judgment," written by Brian Kindregan, which chronicles Vol'jin from his years as a young, would-be shadow hunter to his exodus with the orcs across the sea. The series has been a success with WoW lore buffs, adding to the various faction leaders' histories and canon. Hit the jump for a spoiler-filled summary, and be sure to read the whole ordeal.
Know Your Lore: Update on current Horde politics
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how, but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Around this time last year, Know Your Lore did a series on the politics surrounding both Horde and Alliance, along with some predictions as to what was going to come to pass. Some theories were right, some were wrong -- but as far as the Horde is concerned, there has never been as tumultuous a time as right now in Cataclysm. While some of the conflict is out in the open, other signs of discontent are found in hidden away or in discreet areas, out of sight unless you're directly looking for them. Garrosh Hellscream's reign as Warchief kicked off with a bang. The first few weeks of his rule as Warchief saw the destruction of Orgrimmar and its subsequent rebuilding as a result of the Shattering's devastation. In addition, the Horde found a new set of allies in the quirky, greedy, and often bizarre goblins, something that could be construed as either good or bad, depending on which way you look. On top of all of this, the duel with and subsequent death of Cairne Bloodhoof affected Garrosh deeply and caused him to create a closer alliance with the tauren race, giving them a special section of Orgrimmar in contrition for what happened. Garrosh seems to have a somewhat level head on his shoulders and the best of intentions at heart, but a closer look reveals that the Horde is no longer as united a front as it was in the days of vanilla ... and some of that blame can be placed squarely on Hellscream's shoulders.
Wings Over Atreia: What's in it for me?
That does it. No more Ms. Nice Wings. This time I am just going to unleash! Let my rant all hang out. Admittedly, I am not normally one to complain; I can see the good in most every situation, and I can roll with the punches like it's an Olympic event. But even my feathers get ruffled sometimes. It's true! And sometimes you just can't bite your tongue anymore or all you will have is a very sore tongue. Now I know I am not a rant-master like Jef, but even fledgling ranters must begin somewhere. And this week, I found just such a place: immature, self-serving, can't-pull-their-thumbs-outta-their-ears-unless-there-is-something-in-it-for-them-gamers in Aion. You know the type -- those who think the world revolves around them. Those whose spoiled-rotten antics ruin groups and legions alike and who are the reason why many a block list is so full. They without whom drama would die a quick death and be a forgotten plague. They're the bane of chat channels everywhere -- they are the trolls. Throw yourself past the cut for a look at some recent Aion tantrums and sure-fire ways to minimize the effects of blatant immaturity. Careful, though -- I cannot be held responsible for any resemblance to gamers near you.
Wings Over Atreia: Endgame = end of game?
It happens. All good things must come to an end... except (hopefully) your favorite MMORPG. After all, the whole idea of the MMO is to keep going endlessly, right? To supposedly ever-evolve -- there is no final "win" that concludes the story as in single-player RPGs. However, what do you do when you hit the level cap and have "been there and done that" with everything in game? I guess that's the disadvantage of not having a sandbox; as much I love the graphics and my friends in NCsoft's Aion, there really is just a finite list of things to do. Now before anyone gets up-in-arms or sneers "I told you so," no, I am not quitting and I haven't given up on the game. I still enjoy it. It just so happens that my mind zeroed in on the topic this week as I logged in over the course a few days and just stared at my screen, wondering what I wanted to do. While I was feeling under the weather a bit (which dampened my endurance and enthusiasm to complete any major dungeons), I started wondering about what there actually is to do in Aion after you reach and sit at maximum level for a while. For me, the two things that keep me interested in my virtual worlds are the community and friends that I find in game as well as exploring and experiencing new things. One involves the company providing regular content updates; the other allows for player-created content. But once there is nothing left to explore or experience, friends can drift away... so what does that leave? Pondering this subject and watching the community around me actually brought up some expected -- and some not quite expected -- answers. Join me past the cut to look at different ways Daevas spend their time in Atreia and how they keep their interest sparked.
Wings Over Atreia: Feeding trolls
"WoW was the first MMO." "WTF you --------- [bless the filter]." "Your mom just left here." Channel /3 will be the death of me. Or perhaps just my sanity. If not, then it may be the cause of some random homicides soon. Although I had another topic all planned out (and already mostly penned), I had an about-face for this week's article. This subject is something that is always on the edge of my mind, and as of late, it has been more front and center. In fact, this week has seen discussions on the matter with friends, colleagues, legion-mates, and even my munchkins. The hot topic? Trolls. Aion players know that /3 is the LFG (looking for group) channel, and occasionally you can actually find people looking for groups there! However, because it is the only server-wide channel, people mostly use it for any type of random chatter. And by chatter, I mean a range of sexual comments, preening, raging, and flat-out trolling. Granted, sometimes following along with /3 chatter is simply amusing, but oftentimes it becomes annoying or even outright offensive. In any case, it's hard to pick out anything of value through the fast-paced spam. Now don't get me wrong; I am all for quips and banter and building a community, but it seems that the folks with any amount of consideration and class stay quiet for the most part. If we were to judge society off of universal chat channels, I think I would be all for large-scale nuclear annihilation; people treat others in virtual worlds like they wouldn't dream of vis-à-vis. Why is that? And what can we do to increase civility, decrease trolling, and improve gaming experiences overall? Cross the bridge (don't stop to feed the trolls!) to explore these points with me and share some amusing trolling moments from your server! (Please keep it clean folks!)
The Daily Grind: What game do you play even though you suck?
"Bad players." It's a label thrown around quite a lot in global chats, Vent channels, and forums nowadays. With the influx of warm bodies to the online gaming space, there's bound to be some separation (whether it's perceived or actual) between the wheat and the chaff. The funny thing is, a lot of us know that we "suck" in advance of the reminders from folks who feel the need to constantly point it out. What a few of the more vocal "bad players" trolls fail to realize is that enjoyment derived from MMORPGs isn't limited to a game's competitive aspects. As an example, Global Agenda would have to qualify as one of my favorite MMOs from the last half decade, but judging by my ASM score, I'm one of the worst Robos on the North American shard. That doesn't stop me from logging in and thoroughly enjoying myself on a daily basis, though. What about you, Massively readers? What game(s) do you consistently (proudly?) play at a less than proficient level? [Thanks to the Massively IRC channel for inspiring the topic!] 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 Road to Mordor: Pippin's top five plugins
This past week in LotRO's been a bit like riding river rapids: There's been a lot of rapid ups-and-downs, violent lurches to avoid dangerous objects, and a whole lot of noise that's drowning out the calmer waters ahead. For every piece of good news and positive word-of-mouth, there's been a lot of unfortunate bumps, such as server queues, dynamic layers, mouthy trolls and Codemaster's launch delay. However, I believe it's all going to settle down in a couple more weeks, and LotRO will emerge the better for it. So if this is your first week in Lord of the Rings Online, welcome! Find a great kinship, take time to smell the flowers, and hunt some orc for me. Today I'd like to take a look at one of the unsung heroes of the recent content patch -- the ability to create and use plugins (also called mods and addons) to enhance your user interface. While the system is still in beta and has a rough-around-the-edges feel to it, it's already shown great potential, particularly though the creativity that mod designers are pouring into it. While there are only a small number of plugins available as of right now and Turbine has yet to expand the scope of these Lua scripts beyond constrained limits, it's not too early to beef up your UI with these spiffy additions. Read on, free peoples of Middle-internet!
Know Your Lore: The aqir and their descent, part 2 -- Nerubians
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. We covered the ancient aqir and their qiraji descendants last week. What we didn't really cover was the group of arthropods who headed north, enslaved the Ulduar region's tol'vir and founded ancient Azjol'Nerub. From the time of their expulsion from the central part of the ancient supercontinent of Kalimdor by the Gurubashi and Amani trolls, to their defeat and subordination of those tol'vir, and up to their recent near-total destruction by the Scourge during the War of the Spider, the aqir offshoot calling themselves nerubians have existed apart from their southerly kind. While the qiraji serve C'thun, the nerubians seem wary of the Old Gods and their Faceless Ones, even when gripped by the Lich King's undeath. Furthermore, while many nerubians ended up in the service of the Lich King, forcibly resurrected by him, it's telling that the nerubians were immune to the plague of undeath and waged a war against him for over a decade, only losing when they found themselves trapped between the servants of the Old Gods and the dreadlords that at the time served as the Lich King's advisors and jailors. Their immunity to the plague did not confer immunity to undeath when directly raised, and so Anub'arak, last king of the nerubians, ended up a slave like much of the rest of his race. As of the pre-Cataclysm world, nerubian undead can be found in the plaguelands serving alongside the Cult of the Damned as well as in Northrend itself, while the battered and hateful remnants of the empire of the nerubians are so desperate that they'll accept help from the races of the Alliance and Horde.
Choose My Adventure: Troll stories
Choose the adventures of the WoW.com staff as we level our characters in <It came from the Blog> on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H). This week, we have trolls. No, I don't mean the trolls complaining that <It came from the Blog> is a Horde guild. I mean our lovely troll ladies are telling us stories of their recent encounters. But first, the schedule for the rest of the week: Robin Torres as Robinemia, the undead mage: Wednesday, 11 p.m. EDT Amy Schley as Patent, the troll rogue: Thursday, 10 p.m. EDT Fox Van Allen as Foxlight, the blood elf paladin: Friday, 8 p.m. EDT Michael Sacco as Sahko, the orc warlock; Christian Belt, as Selfloathius, the blood elf warlock; Elizabeth Harper as Faience, the troll shaman; Matthew Rossi as Andrenorton, the troll mage; Michael Gray as Grayfields, the tauren hunter; Adam Holisky as Adammentat, the tauren druid; and Gregg Reece as Yakkowakko, the orc warlock, will be making appearances as they can Turn the page if you want to read about Annephora and Patent.
Know Your Lore TFH Edition: Cataclysm Horde politics
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how, but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. WARNING: The following post contains spoilers for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Players who wish to play the new expansion spoiler-free should veer away from this post. All right, we've seen over the past five weeks the current political activity in all of the Horde races; orcs, trolls, tauren, Forsaken and blood elves. Needless to say, there is a lot of conflict just beginning to rear its head -- not just from one race to the next, but internally within those races as well. What does all this mean in regards to the Horde, when Cataclysm comes into play? Today we'll be looking at what (given all the information we've been presented previously), if anything, will happen when Cataclysm finally launches and the world gets thrown into chaos. Please note I've put a spoiler warning on this post. This is because the following content, while mostly sheer speculation, may or may not end up being correct and will also directly address several rumors regarding Cataclysm that have not yet been confirmed. If you see a "TFH" demarcation on any future Know Your Lore posts, these are "Tin Foil Hat" predictions based on current lore and are in no way actually indicative of anything officially from Blizzard in regards to the game or where it's going to go. If anything presented here does end up being correct, these will actually become Cataclysm spoilers; if not, we've still had plenty of fun trying to predict how things are going to go down! Potential spoilers start immediately after the break.
Blizzard details upcoming Echo Isles content
Players of the troll persuasion should be overjoyed in anticipation of the improved starting zone experience Blizzard is providing for Cataclysm, and from today's new update on Vol'Jin's grand mission, it may be even more important than you think. The official Echo Isles page indicates that there's plenty more going on to trouble the Darkspear than Zalazane, outright stating that Horde leadership will undergo a schism, and that Vol'Jin has potentially dangerous information about the political struggles that both the Darkspear and the Horde at large are undergoing. One confusing bit of information in there, though -- this is on the official Cataclysm site and listed as a Cataclysm feature, but it was formerly announced as pre-Cataclysm content for Patch 3.3.9. Is it possible the new experience has been pushed back, or is this just being pushed as a Cataclysm feature to draw in new trolls? Either way, Cataclysm should be a pretty exciting time for the Darkspear -- you get your island back and you get to turn into a bear.* What more could you ask for? *certain class restrictions may apply World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it. Nothing will be the same. In WoW.com's Guide to Cataclysm you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion. From Goblins and Worgens to Mastery and Guild changes, it's all there for your cataclysmic enjoyment.
Know Your Lore: Current Horde politics, the Trolls
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses; you know the how, but do you know the why? Each week Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. The trolls of Warcraft have a history that spans back further than any other playable race currently in the game, with the exception of the draenei. This makes it difficult to trace the entirety of their history, but fortunately the Darkspear of the Horde are one small fraction of what is a gigantic race as a whole. While the orcs, blood elves, Forsaken and tauren are all dealing with their own issues, the trolls of the Darkspear tribe are working quietly and largely by themselves to deal with a few major problems of their own. The troll races of Warcraft were originally largely part of two major empires -- the Gurubashi of southeastern Kalimdor, and the Amani in the middle regions of the continent. There were other tribes scattered here and there, notably the trolls of Gundrak to the north, but by and large, all troll tribes fell under either the Gurubashi or the Amani empires. Prior to the Sundering, the trolls comprised a gigantic portion of the world's population, and while the Gurubashi and Amani didn't really like each other, they rarely warred, instead choosing to fight against a third empire, that of the Aqir. The two races fought relentlessly for thousands of years, and eventually the Aqir Empire split into two city-states, Azjol-Nerub to the north, and Ahn'Qiraj to the south. With the Aqir driven into exile, the trolls returned to their normal lives, though neither empire expanded much further than their original boundaries.
Patch 3.3.3 PTR: Ruby Sanctum and Echo Isles music
Celestial steeds and more toys aren't the only new things coming in patch 3.3.3! With the new content also comes a variety of new music. Savvy dataminer Leviathonlx dug up several new tracks for the big events going on in the new patch. Accompanying the trolls in Operation Echo Isles will be an epic score tailored to the event, whether the calm before combat, the thick of the battle, or the climax of the fight, the music will get you in the mood for the voodoo. Also uncovered was a track centered around the Ruby Sanctum. Not to be outdone by the trolls, the Red Dragonflight has made a strong showing with spooky music all their own. ZF Big Battle ZF Med Battle ZF Quiet Ruby Sanctum Blizzard has always made it a point to use mood- and setting-appropriate music in all of their zones, instances and, on a larger scale, games. These cinematic-style tracks are no exception. Be sure to check back often, as we'll keep you up to date with all news about Patch 3.3.3.
Operation Echo Isles: Transcripts and details
WARNING: This post is chock full of spoilers. Spoilers like you would not believe. If you'd like to be surprised about anything involving the Echo Isles and what is contained within, I wouldn't recommend continuing onward. If, however, you are clamoring for more information, read on! There is a lot of great information about upcoming world events in the current patch 3.3.3 PTR. We've already posted about some of the story inside the Ruby Sanctum as well as what is being referred to as "Operation Gnomeregan". However, the trolls have their own operation underway in trying to take back the Echo Isles from the evil hex master Zalazane. There are lots and lots of spoilers about the quest line and the story behind it. Please note that this is just an assembly of transcripts from all of the sound files put in what appears to be a proper order. Dere be some dark voodoo inside. Do ye have what it takes?
