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Borderlands Online will use heavy instancing
So, Borderlands Online. You know, that popular game-turned-MMO conversion that we'll probably never get to see in the West? At least we have a few new details that will taunt us forever with our lack of this sci-fi western title. The title looks to be a more instance-heavy MMO, akin to Dragon Nest or the original Guild Wars, with co-op adventure zones but no mass shared open world zone. Instanced MMO gaming isn't everyone's cup of tea, of course, but it doesn't automatically mean it will be horrible, just different. Other details that Chinese game site Sina discovered is that there will be over 20 million guns, plenty of hidden secrets, and some form of PvP.
Borderlands Online confirmed for a Chinese release
Remember that crazy rumor from last week that Borderlands was going to be an MMO? It was so crazy and unbelievable you just had to laugh. It was also completely true, and it's now confirmed that Borderlands Online will be coming to China, published by Shanda Games and developed by Gearbox. There are no apparent plans to bring the game to the US. Four classes will be available in Borderlands Online: Warrior, Ranger, Wizard, and Berserker. The game is planned for a release in 2015; a mobile title is also in development, although it's unclear whether it will be a tie-in to the online game or a port of an existing title. So, yes, that crazy rumor was apparently right on the money.
Goat MMO Simulator boasts one level more than World of Warcraft
Few moments in MMO history have been as pivotal and groundbreaking as what we are witness to today. For we, the humble gamers of the year 2014, are about to embark on an adventure that makes every online effort to date look like E.T. for the Atari 2600. As of later this week, Goat Simulator will become an MMO (simulator). The inexplicably bizarre sandbox hit is preparing to roll out a free DLC patch that will have one more level than that "other" MMO. With 101 levels, dozens of quests, five classes (including Microwave), and "factional warfare between goats and sheep," the newly christened Goat MMO Simulator will take the zany gameplay to the nth degree. Don't believe us? We have the video proof after the jump as well as 500 incredulous comments down below (commenters, please don't let us down on this after we vouched for you here).
Riot Games starting programs to help support retired e-sports players
So what do you do when you're too old to play e-sports on a professional level? Do you accept that you had a good run being treated like a rock star for playing a lot of games and move on with your life? Heck no. You need to start worrying about leveraging your brand and your media training. That's the sort of material covered by a new program headed by Riot Games, guiding professional League of Legends players on the path from the start of their career to their expected retirement at around age 27. The accepted retirement age for professional players is due to a decrease in fine motor control and reflexes, which means that as in physical sports, it's impossible to continue playing as you get older. While the symposia Riot is offering don't yet go into detail about what players can do after playing, they are meant to help keep professionals in the spotlight and support them when they can no longer keep up with the events. It's useful training for professional e-sports players looking to move through their career and have some direction for after the game.
Knight's Fable launching on Wednesday
"The world needs a hero," the Knight's Fable website proclaims. "You be the one." Well, I guess that's it. You're the one. This means that you need to load up on Hot Pockets and Mountain Dew because you're going to need the fuel to save the world come Wednesday, June 18th. That's when Knight's Fable releases and the world gets that one hero it's always craved. This new browser MMO comes courtesy of iMiGAME. It features trainable pets, a battle party system, a PvP arena located in Hell (seriously), and four classes. Knight's Fable also says that it uses "fast-paced turn-based combat," so take that as you will. [Source: iMiGAME press release]
Guild Wars 2 players pledge oath to game in video
Stop pinching yourself in a futile effort to wake up from what you think is an absurd dream. The Guild Wars 2 marketing promotion to ask players to pledge their allegiance to the game actually happened. We know this because we now have video proof of the fact. ArenaNet released a complilation video of players filling in the blanks of their own oaths to play the game (in exchange for a shot at a free copy of it, it must be said). From the adorkable to the bizarre and the cows to the cheap flame effects, this video has it all. And best of all, you can watch it in the privacy of your home with no one to judge you after the break.
Star Trek Online creates a gingerbread colony for the holidays
Not since Aunt Beru's blue milk has science fiction looked this tasty! Star Trek Online's mischevious Q is creating a gingerbread colony for the game's annual Winter Wonderland event. As part of the event, players will be shrunk down to defend the colony from snowmen by flinging snowballs and firing snow guns at them (which, if you think about it, is kind of like flinging body parts at the enemy). Toss in ice and yetis, and you have the strangest Star Trek episode ever. And yes, I'm including the one with Data and the masks. What was that about? Participants in the event can get special prizes and recipes, including a starship. Q's Winter Wonderland will be in the game from December 5th through January 16th of next year.
The Daily Grind: Have you ever sat on a game before playing it?
So The Secret World was on sale on Origin this week for $10. Since it's buy-to-play at this point, that's well within the realm of prices where I start nodding and saying that it's a good deal, and the next thing I knew, I had bought the game. And I installed it. And now I've... well... I don't know exactly. I'm not playing it yet, but there's no real reason not to. It's not as if I'm worried about wasting my free month or something. But I bought it, and I own it, and now I'm just sitting on it. Sometimes we buy MMOs knowing that we'll start playing them soon but not right now. I let Guild Wars 2 sit for a long while before I got in and started playing. So today the question is whether or not you've ever bought a game and then sat on it for a while before playing it? Including if you literally put the game box on a chair and parked there for a couple of hours, I suppose. Everyone has rituals. 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 Mog Log: Giving a shotgun to a bear
Final Fantasy XI was my first MMORPG, and as such it's shaped a lot of my attitudes toward the genre as a whole. The problem was that inasmuch as one could be a typical player of the game, I was not. The details aren't relevant; what is relevant is that I would frequently look at patch notes, sort of squint a bit, and assume that any number of the features were aimed at the audience that I was not a part of. After all, there was no way the developers would add in a feature if literally no one in the game's community wanted it, right? Time has made it clear that this was most definitely not the case. Maybe it's due to the difference between American and Japanese audiences, maybe it's something lost in the translation, or maybe it's just Square's periodic bursts of insanity manifesting itself, but Final Fantasy XIV carries on in the proud decision of listening to players and taking entirely the wrong message away. I'm incredibly impressed by the vast majority of Naoki Yoshida's work, but there are a lot of features that have been added or are being added that seem to have completely missed the point of player requests.
Prime World charges women less to play, 'protects' them in mixed groups [Updated]
It's ladies night at Prime World, and drinks are on the house. The upcoming MOBA is offering unique incentives to rope in real-world women to play, including discounted heroes and special buffs if girls team up with guys. The game is connected to players' Facebook accounts, so women looking for special treatment need to actually be a member of that gender. Nival's Creative Producer Larisa Nuretdinova hopes this will expand Prime World's potential audience: "The idea is to introduce the MOBA genre not only to hardcore players who already love it, but to their friends who might be more casual, and of course to their sisters and girlfriends who may not be as hardcore." To encourage both sexes to group up together, Nival has devised a special defensive buff that is only activated when a woman playing a female character is part of the team. According to Prime World's About page, "this bonus helps encourage beginning female players, who feel more helpful when fighting in a mixed group." Prime World offers six heroes for free, three of each gender; additional heroes can be purchased with actual money. It's here, too, that real-world women have an advantage, as Nival is offering a discount for the ladies who go shopping in the game. [Update: Kotaku reports that Nival later clarified that it is offering discounts for both genders purchasing the same gendered character.]
MapleStory gets political, players respond with bewilderment
It's an election year in the United States, and that means that it's time to start polling for opinions across the country. If the country goes the path of MapleStory, the incumbent President has nothing to worry about. A survey of 1,655 random MapleStory players was conducted this past weekend, with 47.79% claiming that Barack Obama had made the most positive impact out of the current candidates. The runner-up? Abject confusion. More than 20% of respondents did not recognize any of the names involved. The respondents were also polled on the most important issue facing the presidential candidates, with unemployment taking the top spot (40%) and the gap between rich and poor taking second place (28%). It's not necessarily indicative of much, but even though it's an informal poll conducted by Nexon America of a fairly random playerbase, there's a staggering degree of confusion at work. Or MapleStory players really like President Obama, one or the other.
Storyboard: Talk this way
One of the great problems presented to roleplayers is the challenge of presenting audio via text. We don't think about it all the time because most of the time it's easy to construct the sound of something from context. Sure, simply saying that your character sighs could mean any number of things, but contextually it's usually obvious whether it's meant as a gesture of exasperation or a sign of relaxed contentment. "Yes, I'm sure your new weapon will make a huge difference in the war" could be sarcastic or serious, but there are generally enough clues in the situation to make the difference obvious. But there's one obvious case in which that breaks down, and that's in the matter of accents. After all, people from two different regions shouldn't quite sound the same... but there's also no effective way to communicate how one voice or another sounds different. And the most common solution is essentially a matter of making your character's words borderline unreadable in the hopes that you convey a sliver of your intention.
World of Warcraft is the new Match.com
Are you single? Do you want to be a little bit less single? Are your friends telling you that you should stop spending so much time talking with them online and more time looking for dates? Well, according to a recent infographic, your friends might be completely off-base. Onlineuniversity.net put together a graphic comparing World of Warcraft to the popular dating site Match.com, and the results come out pretty firmly in favor of blood elves. So how does it look? According to the graphic, World of Warcraft has more than 10 times as many people involved as Match.com, and people sink more time into online gaming than any online dating site. There's also a number of factors that suggest slaughtering virtual trolls as a better way to bond than a cup of coffee. So while it's still probably bad form to hit on your raid leader between pulls, maybe you're not entirely off the mark. Unless she's married.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: That's really super, Super Pack
So, the Super Pack is out. Not a whole lot has changed in City of Heroes as a result. The skies have not been raining fire any more than they already do on a regular basis (superheroes, you know the deal). People still log in and play and enjoy themselves. And my enormous ranting diatribe still sits in the archives for anyone who missed it the first time or just wants to take a second look for posterity. My feelings haven't changed. But while launching into a full-on rant was certainly cathartic and managed to hit a lot of good points, there were a lot of good points brought up in the comments that I simply hadn't touched on. So it's time to address some of the those ideas and complaints, both the good and the bad. (Although under the circumstances, it's pretty much all bad in varying flavors.)
Blizzard clarifies Bashiok's statements about Diablo III and hints at release announcement
The most recent tempest in a Diablo III-shaped teapot has been community manager Bashiok making a statement to fans urging them to lower their expectations for the game. Director Jay Wilson decided that this was worth a direct reply and stated in a recent open letter to the community that Bashiok's statements were "obviously sarcastic" and that the team does want fan expectations to remain high. The letter stresses that the development staff is quite happy with the game as it continues development and the current internally tested build in a better state than the beta. Wilson goes on to claim that fans can expect a release date announcement in the near future, avoiding the dreaded Blizzard incarnation of "soon." Given his appraisal of the beta state, we suspect that the game will be heading for a retail edition before too long, at which point players will be able to decide for themselves whether or not their expectations were met.
Online gaming linked with marital dissatisfaction
Good news, gamers! You can now blame another dysfunction (if you have it, and I'm sure you don't) on the games you play! It's not enough that those nasty ol' video games are making you violent and antisocial -- a new survey put out by Brigham Young University is linking online gaming with a decrease in marital satisfaction. The survey states that "gaming widows," whose spouses neglect them to focus on gaming, are dissatisfied with the states of their marriage. How that differs from corporate widows, football widows, or any other neglected spouse without a catchy title isn't really specified. Another conclusion pointed out by the survey is that when spouses play together, the marriage tends to be in pretty good shape. Who'd have ever thought that spending time bonding over a shared interest would be healthy for a relationship? While we're all in agreement that your level 80 Paladin probably doesn't deserve as much of your love and affection as your spouse, if you hadn't figured that out on your own, gaming probably isn't the root of your problems. Just a thought.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Assume I'm making a pun about the Super Pack
It doesn't seem that long ago that I was looking back on my past year of writing this column, mentioning how negative I had gotten overall and sort of quietly wishing that I could spend the next year being more positive. I don't really want to write a column on City of Heroes once again that winds up being full of complaints. But if Paragon Studios is going to do something to induce rage, I'm not really given many options. Case in point: the Super Pack. I don't need to tell a lot of you why this is a bad idea. I shouldn't even really need to say this is a bad idea. This is one of those ideas that shouldn't have ever made it past the conceptual stage. The moment it was suggested in a board meeting, everyone else in the room should have rushed for the person who suggested it, driving him or her into a closet for safety. That this did not happen speaks volumes.
Vindictus spreads the love with new update and holiday
Whether you're in the mood for hard combat or soft, silky underwear, Vindictus has you covered, strangely enough. Nexon's free-to-play title is charging through February in style, starting with a Valentine's Day event and ending with its massive Lost Artifacts update. Quirky events have quickly become one of Vindictus' staples. Right now players can participate in V-Day events for special rewards. If fishing and chocolate hunting isn't your bag, you can simply purchase a Valentine's Package at the Supply Depot for "sexy Valentine's themed Inner Armor." Cute undies, in other words. Valentine's events will end after the 15th, so players are encouraged to partake sooner rather than regret it later. On the 16th, Nexon rolls out the Lost Artifact update, which includes an increase in level cap to 60, six bonus chapters, and the Hoarfrost Depths and Hilder Forest zones. Lost Artifact also features two new modes, Hero and Gauntlet, for those seeking a more challenging dungeon experience. You can check out pictures from these events as well as the Lost Artifact trailer after the jump.
The Blood Lord has come to Vindictus, and he brings... football
Perhaps you've been enjoying Vindictus but thinking the whole time that something is missing from the game. Something that would really make all of the fantasy action click together for you. Something like, say, footballs. If so, well, we don't know what to tell you except that your dream has come true. Coinciding with the arrival of the Blood Lord is the addition of footballs throughout missions, as well as special football-themed costumes for players to unlock by using the pigskins as a weapon of war. Essentially, defeating bosses with creative use of the football will net players coupons that can be redeemed for football jerseys, which combine with football helmets (available in the cash store) to unlock special bonuses for players. It's certainly apropos of the current playoff season, albeit in a setting where it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Still, if you're looking to meld ferocious fantasy violence with the thrill of kicking the winning field goal, the video past the cut makes it clear that Vindictus has you covered. (Oh, and there's a vampire lord.) %Gallery-114025%
