This clip shows a taste of Age of Conan as played in DirectX 10. The game's environments seem incredibly lush. Have I mentioned that I can't wait until this massively multiplayer online game hits?
My favorite part of the pitch is when the guy says the game uses magic realism. Borges must be spinning in his grave. Brian Crecente
Source: Clip: Age of Conan DX10
Originally published on Mon, 15 Jan 2007 16:00:32 GMT
Sanya's latest Grab Bag for Dark Age of Camelot is bulging with gameplay-related questions and answers. What's going in in the Camelot Herald? Development news, changes, bugs, clarifications... mostly to do with version 1.87d. Here's a couple that caught our attention:
The big news: spec changes for Bonedancers. And Mentalists are next!
- Confirmation that the battleground level changes have been undone. Feedback from players was largely negative about the level changes, so the team reverted the level ranges back to their original values.
- Bugs keep popping up in the Labyrinth (Labyrinth of the Minotaur). An example is having an ambient Maggot uncovering your stealth even though you've got 50 base stealth. These are bugs (they're not meant to happen), so please report them as bugs.
Up until now, the vast majority (well above 90 ) of Bonedancers were specced with a high amount of suppression. The reasons for this were twofold. One, Suppression was an incredibly powerful spec. Two, Bone Army and Darkness were incredibly weak specs.
Our goal was to change the class to have at least two, and hopefully three wholly viable spec lines, instead of one overly dominant spec line. This thought process will eventually be applied to every class with a severely lacking spell line (I'm looking at YOU Mentalism Mentalists).
Changes can be painful. But since EA Mythic's team is always open to feedback and are usually quick with fixing bugs, there's not too much to worry about, right?
Source: Grab Bag: Bonedancer (and Mentalist?) changes, and more
Originally published on Mon, 15 Jan 2007 16:12:21 GMT
Filed under: Culture, PC, Action, Adventure, RPGs, MMO
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Unless you were lucky enough to have snagged an early copy off of the shelves at a Wal-Mart, then you probably haven't seen the insides of a World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade - Collector's Edition yet. If you don't want to wait until midnight tonight, then here's your chance for a sneak peek.
Unfortunately, this Collector's Edition appears to be sold out everywhere, including the Blizzard store. We're hoping to find a copy somewhere tonight, although it sounds like we'd have a better chance surviving as an icecube in the Molten Core. You can still snag a copy on Amazon ... to the tune of $200 and up. Hardly surprising, since folks are selling the original WoW collector's edition for over $500. Is an exclusive pet worth that much, we ask you?
The highly anticipated expansion for WoW will be selling in stores at the stroke of midnight tonight. In fact, they're having midnight launches for it, and Joystiq will be braving the cold and freezing our butts off to bring you some coverage.
Source: Peek inside the World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade - Collector's Edition box
Originally published on Mon, 15 Jan 2007 16:15:00 GMT
"It's a question of when we're going to decide to do it", Blizzard tells CVG.
Blizzard has revealed that new character class additions for World of Warcraft are "definitely in our big list" of features, in an interview with CVG this afternoon.
Click here to read the full article
Source: News: New WoW classes coming
Originally published on Mon, 15 Jan 2007 17:25:00 GMT
It looks like both development and marketing for upcoming MMO title The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar are in full swing now. Just a couple of days ago, we mentioned that the Beta and Stress tests for the game officially went live for Europe. This time, publisher Turbine Inc. released a new game trailer.
While you won't be seeing some Elves and Nazgul action here, the video is still a good watch as it reveals the game's rather breathtaking cinematics of Duilond. According to Turbine, the trailer is composed of actual gameplay shots, and boy, they are looking sweet. We honestly found ourselves momentarily stunned by what we saw.
In case you want to see it for yourself, we made the video available for download below. Now where is that music track that fits well with this one...
Download: [LOTRO: Duilond Trailer
Source: LOTRO: The Duilond trailer
Originally published on Mon, 15 Jan 2007 19:01:14 GMT
Stray Bullet Games, a game development studio founded by key developers from Shadowbane creators Wolfpack Studios, has announced that they are working on a brand new massively multiplayer online game. They will be using an undisclosed 3rd party game engine to create the as-of-yet unnamed game, which will feature a completely original setting and theme.
Mike Madden, the Creative Director, had more to say about the design process for the new project. "We have two guiding principles: Rely upon the familiar and Be bold . . . In setting, systems and game play, we want to build on a firm foundation of features that are familiar and comfortable to MMO players, making the game as inviting and accessible as possible. We see no need to innovate in areas MMOs already do well."
I'm all for incorporating successful aspects of other games, as long as the setting is rich, immersive, and contains as many of those giant monkey things from the concept art above as will fit on the server. I also have to respect the ballsiness of any company that openly admits being responsible for Shadowbane. Michael FaheyTaking Aim at the Future! [Stray Bullet Games via Eurogamer]
Source: New MMO From Shadowbane Creators
Originally published on Mon, 15 Jan 2007 20:40:55 GMT
Sony Online Entertainment LLC, a global leader in the online games industry, has announced EverQuest The Buried Sea, a new expansion for the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), EverQuest. EverQuest The Buried Sea will only be available via digital download beginning February 13th, for the suggested retail price of U.S. $29.99.
“As the new producer on EverQuest I am very excited to have this tremendous opportunity to work on such a storied franchise, as well as be part of a development team that has delivered successful expansions time and time again over the past eight years for our many loyal EQ players,” said Clint Worley, Producer, Sony Online Entertainment. “As the thirteenth expansion for EverQuest, The Buried Sea will continue to challenge players with two new worlds to explore, ship-to-ship combat on the open seas against swashbuckling pirates, and a variety of new missions created especially for this expansion.”
“The success of EverQuest is both a tribute to our devoted player base and our very committed development team,” said Christopher E. Sturr, Senior Global Brand Manager, Sony Online Entertainment. “EverQuest continues to deliver innovation, new features and challenging new content, which will be evident in The Buried Sea.”
The Buried Sea will also feature the ability for guilds to create a unique Guild Banner from a large selection of symbols and colors. The banner becomes the mark of the guild and when enough guild members are in the same zone, the guild leaders or officers can plant the banner in the ground. Once the banner is placed, members of that guild are able to teleport directly to that banner. In addition to the banners, players will have the ability to acquire Energeian items, utilizing ancient Combine technology; they can gain access to a new inventory slot that can be fitted with an Energeian power source and armor that can tap into the energy held within.
About EverQuest The Buried Sea
Throngs of undead trample the earth both night and day as Norrath’s sun withers. With each passing hour, the growing numbers of creatures of the night rising from crypts and graves seem part of a grand design to overwhelm the lands. Trouble also lurks deep beneath the Buried Sea off the coast of Odus in a city named Katta Castrum, which has remained undiscovered for millennia. It is a city built to sustain the beloved leader of the Combine Empire who was poisoned. Generations of Combine Loyalists have tried to cure and awaken him while they house threatened populations of Kedge, Shissar, and Sphinx. But in recent times, the artifact that powers and protects their city has weakened. Without it, the city will be crushed under the pressure of the sea. Only the most intrepid Norrathians have the power to save them.EverQuest The Buried Sea Features
- Ship-to-Ship Combat - Cross the plank and fight for your life on the open seas as you raid pirate vessels!
- Two Paths of Advancement - Battle pirates on the open seas or dive deep beneath the sea to Katta Castrum, lost stronghold of the Combine Empire.
- New Missions - Take your group through more than 60 challenging new missions ranging from defending merchant vessels against marauding pirates to uncovering the secrets behind the combine city and the danger that threatens it!
- Guild Banners - Design a guild emblem and display it with pride! Upgrade your banner to grant your guild special abilities and plant it on the field of battle so your fellow guild members can teleport directly to it!
- Fellowships - Get together with a group of your closest friends and start your own fellowship! You can join in a common chat channel, gain the ability to create a campfire that can help you in your adventures, and get a token that will let you quickly travel to your other fellowship members.
- Energeian Items - Utilizing ancient Combine technology, gain access to a new inventory slot that can be fitted with an Energeian power source and armor that can tap into the energy held within! The armor gains power based on the type of energy in the power source, so you can quickly customize the effects of your armor by changing the power source!
Tags: everquest, buried sea, expansion, norrath, combine
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Source: The Buried Sea Expansion For EverQuest Announced
Originally published on Mon, 15 Jan 2007 21:51:12 GMT
Just before the World of Warcraft expansion launch (that's tonight, by the way, in case you missed it), the kids at Pro-G spoke with Blizzard designer Jonathan LeCraft to discuss the future of WoW and their stable of franchises. On WoW for consoles:
You really do need a keyboard to play WoW. I've seen some mods where people have hooked up WoW to their Wii. When I saw that I was like, well, that's got to be pretty easy to PVP against, honestly. It's not something we're looking at right now.That's non-committal enough, I suppose. But when discussing the next Blizzard franchise to get the MMO-treatment, LeCraft is typically even more vague. When asked about the other hot Blizzard properties, he said: "I think we have the capacity for another [MMO]."
I know they're licenses to print money, but can we please just get another Starcraft, sans monthly fee? And please, no more attempts at console stealth games, k? Much appreciated. Michael McWhertor
World of Warcraft unlikely for consoles [Pro-G]
Source: No World Of Warcraft For You, Consoles!
Originally published on Tue, 16 Jan 2007 00:20:42 GMT
Warforged Titans are basically classified as a "living construct" - an oxymoron when you think about it. They are half construct and half living creature. These Warforged are extremely dangerous as they can deal massive damage and take massive damage as well.
They are armed (literally, since they don't have hands and their arms end in weapons) with a giant maul and a three-bladed weapon. Warforged Titans are capable of doing massive melee attacks using their built in weapons and their special attacks are Ground Shake and Energy Weapon.
Good thing is they have a weakness common to giant lumbering tank monsters. They aren't very bright, all they want is to crush you so they won't have a strategy other than hack and slash. So players would do good to use this to their advantage. Exploit the terrain and environment, and practice excellent party tactics.
Warforged Titans can be found near Stormreach, brave adventurers can check them out on Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Source: DDO creature feature: Warforged Titan
Originally published on Fri, 12 Jan 2007 01:55:09 GMT
