Darkfall on the Horizon, Qur'an Delays LBP 10.18.08
Aventurine presented Darkfall in a press event in Athens this weekend. The event went smoothly, save the disconnect at the end of the event. The biggest news from the event though, was the announcement that open beta was to end in December.
Do you understand? Cancel your MMO subscriptions, stock up on food and toilet supplies, and prepare to shun your friends and family. Darkfall is almost here.
In other news, LittleBigPlanet was delayed from it's global release date of next week due to a recall. This isn't your ordinary recall, as Muslim gamers have complained about a certain song within the game itself. Apparently it's offensive to have lines from the Qur'an mixed into music. While Media Molecule opted to deploy an online fix, Sony has decided to pull all copies and move the release date back a week.
Original forum post:
Song:
Tapha Niang by Toumani Diabaté
Thousands of dollars lost from re-release and shipping on the part of Sony to appease the second most largest religion in the world. This decision has made many anxious gamers disappointed, even to the point of some rushing video game forums to spout off anti-Muslim remarks. This move by Sony makes LittleBigPlanet the household name in gaming this weekend, if you haven't heard of this game before, chances are that you'll hear about it now.
Little Beta Fest 2008 9.30.08
The most important news this month so far is that Darkfall beta testing has begun on September 22nd. Is Aventurine still on time with a 2008 release? What about North American publishing? Why aren't I in the beta?
Burning questions indeed, hopefully we'll get some answers to these questions next month. It seems despite the void of interesting games in general this month (Crysis Warhead and Spore) it has been a month of betas. Not only for the PC, but for consoles as well.
This week I was lucky enough to beta test LittleBigPlanet for the Playstation 3. Before you go on and begin to think of insults on my sexual preference or how my mama's so dumb, it's actually been an amazing experience.
The amount of freedom they give you to design your own level is humongous. With the beta, users are given just a small amount of tools when compared to the full version. But even with this toolbox limit, there's an abundance of levels I've played that are just mind boggling.
Unfortunately I haven't had time to make a level of my own, though I've been tinkering with the design theory and making my own gadgets and vehicles. All I've got to say is that this game is very well done. To top all of this, the makers will allow top designers a chance to make some bank off of their designs, by charging users a small fee to play them. According to the devs, it will be very similar to iTunes.
Absolute genius. A game that gives you a chance to use your creativity (loads more than Spore) and you can bank off of it. I'm actually thankful that I've spotted this game a few months back as a game of the year contender, because I've even had my dear old mum make up some Sackboys (the characters from LittleBigPlanet) by hand in order to sell.
I'm glad developers are now thinking with money in mind, especially on the consoles. Used to be, only the gold farmers from various MMOs: WoW, EVE, SWG to name the couple that I've been in with spammers galore, were the only ones making real money, besides the developer, out of playing a game.
Not bad, not bad at all.
Darkfall Beta Registration Opened 8.29.08
7 years in the making, that's how long it's been. Aventurine announced today that Beta registration has been opened:
http://www.darkfallonline.com/beta/
And the icing on the cake, a very sweet 100% in-game trailer:
(Youtube link - http://www.youtube.com/DarkfallOnline
Warhammer Release Date Announced 8.07.08
Mythic Entertainment Declares September 18, 2008 a "Day of Reckoning"
2008 EVER OSL comes to a finish 7.13.08
The fog of war clears over the 2008 OnGameNet Starleague with Starcraft's 'God of War', JulyZerg, standing tall over the rest of the competition.
Playing very aggressively and going all-in plenty of times, July was able to stomp the Zerg bracket and go on to crush the rest of the tournament. Fortunately for July, the remaining opponents were all Protoss, a race that July is confident he can always beat.
Finals: JulyZerg vs BeSt, best of 5 series
The Devil is a Carebear 7.5.08
Blizzard blue poster Bashiok wrote on the WoW forums that the ability to kill other players without their consent (PK) will not be a part of Diablo 3:
"We're - in general - not big fans of griefing for any game. It's really only "fun" for one person, and that definition of fun isn't generally something we're going to want to encourage. It's far more positive to encourage and support meaningful and skillful options and systems within a game, than a mechanic for people to instantly turn against one another for no meaningful gameplay reasons.
I definitely remember running with my friends, and someone toggles it, and bam everyone is dead and your one friend is laughing. Ok, ok, good joke I guess, and then you run back and *bam*, you've toggled it to get them back. After a while everyone usually agrees to a truce because it's just a waste of time. But I also remember running with random players and losing extremely nice items because of it, not cool. I'm sure that it was a feature that was right up some people's alleys, I won't deny there are some that would enjoy nothing more than to see others frustrated, but is that truly something that should be encouraged through design - if not directly opposed?
We have a large focus on cooperative play for Diablo III, and the mechanics and design decisions related to multiplayer are likely going to be based on supporting and encouraging it as much as possible, and not breaking it down.
That doesn't mean that PvP won't have its own focus, but those are details and features we aren't yet discussing."
A series based upon a war between heaven and hell, where the player must march through the pits of a place where condemned souls of murderers, thieves, and rapists supposedly are kept for all of eternity, and you aren't even allowed to kill another person without their permission.
Perhaps Blizzard's idea of hell has three foot tall bears of differing colors that travel on clouds of delightfulness and jump down slides made of rainbows. To be fair, Diablo has never really been PvP based. It does have some PvP, but the main objective of the game is to whack-a-mole. Announcing that the company is anti-PK though is a bit ... weird? It's confusing if anything at all.
Reading the praise that the blue poster received following that announcement in the same thread makes me realize just how similar Blizzard games (with the sole exception of the most holy of holies, Starcraft) and the Nintendo Wii both are. User friendly, easy to use, and fun for the whole family. It must be nice to have a big fanbase, but to the people who are hardcore gamers, that's not nearly enough to keep us mesmerized.
Hell Unfreezes Over 6.29.08
Yesterday, Blizzard Entertainment announced at the Blizz Worldwide Invitational in Paris, France that Diablo 3 is in the works. The official page (linked above) introduced its new features:
Two decades have passed since the demonic denizens, Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal, wandered the world of Sanctuary in a vicious rampage to shackle humanity into unholy slavery. Yet for those who battled the Prime Evils directly, the memory fades slowly and the wounds of the soul still burn.
When Deckard Cain returns to the ruins of Tristram's Cathedral seeking clues to new stirrings of evil, a comet from the heavens strikes the very ground where Diablo once entered the world. The comet carries a dark omen in its fiery being and it calls the heroes of Sanctuary to defend the mortal world against the rising powers of the Burning Hells--and even the failing luminaries of the High Heavens itself.
- Explore a fully-realized Sanctuary--the living, breathing gothic fantasy world of Diablo III rendered in gorgeous 3D.
- Battle the unholy forces of the Burning Hells with all-new character classes like the otherworldly Witch Doctor, or with re-imagined warriors from Diablo's past: such as the fierce Barbarian.
- Rain Hell on your enemies wielding the interactive environment as a weapon: lay cunning traps, turn destructible objects against your foes, and use environmental obstacles to your advantage--all powered by the Havoc physics system.
- Experience the intensity of multiplayer Diablo III over an all-new, wickedly-enhanced Battle.net platform with numerous enhancements to make connecting with your friends easier--and cooperative gameplay more fun.
Also announced today at the Invitational was more news on the techs and races for the upcoming Starcraft II. The game is getting more technical, allowing players with great micromanagement a chance to really show off their handiwork.
A couple details from the Invitational today:
- Zerg Overlords now have the ability to drop creep, extending the borders on which Zerg can build and move upon. Imagine the deadly possibilities: Overlords creep drop over a base, allowing the player to complete the second half of his Nydus Canal and let his horde come into the base almost instantly.
- It appears that Zerg buildings, at least the Spore and Sunken Colonies, are able to uproot and move around, granted only on the creep. This allows nice defensive flexibility and gives the Zerg base a feeling that it's alive.
- Protoss Inhibitors are a caster type unit that has the ability to spawn walls. These walls can be manuevered to create a temporary chokepoint to allow better focus firing or can be made to play cat-and-mouse around as the Inhibitor can actually blink through the wall while firing through it.
- Terran Thors are gigantic mechs with lumbering cannons. They have the ability to regenerate health if they are not completely destroyed, allowing them to continue firing off barrages if not kept in check.
Deliverance At Hand? 6.24.08
A storm brews in the horizon for a 500-pound gorilla. This reigning champion, known to the world as Blizzard Entertainment, is about to faceoff against some serious competition this year. Despite the release of its new expansion in November and beating back the short onslaught from Conan the Barbarian, there are still two more contenders for the crown:
Warhammer Online. A game that was so apparently a clone of WoW that the Beta was closed for some reworking. Insiders report that WAR will not be the answer, instead it will be a solid game for second place, next to Age of Conan.
Darkfall Online: Now this maybe the one. It doesn't take much time to find a thread on the WoW forums, either US or EU, or even the Ultima Online forums, that praises Darkfall for what it's about to deliver. Absolute freedom from the grind. Never has an MMO looked so promising. With its developers stating release this year, it's hard not to bet on the numbers of subscribers from UO and WoW taking a hit with DFO's release.
Until then, we're all just biding time until the gorilla is forced to take a dirt nap.
(AoC) Hand of Tartarus is Recruiting 6.04.08
Hand of Tartarus (StormRage-US) is looking for skilled, mature players to join our ranks. If you enjoy being in a friendly environment, sharing laughs and having a blast, all while lopping some heads off, this is the clan for you.
We are aspiring to be a small mercenary clan, village site and vent/ts voip server are all pending. We are short in numbers at the moment, remembering that quality is preferred over quantity. If you are interested in joining us, drop by our forums to fill out an application or PM me, Yamamoto, in game.
AoC Clan Formed 5.31.08
After running around in circles for the past week and grinding on vile squirrels of death, I've finally managed to reach level 20. With that, I've formed up a Hand of Tartarus clan on the StormRage (pvp) US server. I have plans on this branch being a mercenary clan, hopefully by the time I reach level 80 we'll have secured our own village lot.
About the previous log, yes, there are professions, markets, banks and mail boxes... It was in the next city over. Anyway, the game is getting more fun as the feats continue to grow. At this point in time I'm at level 33, about 7 more levels until I get my own little beast of burden to mill about on.
If squadron based combat is something that appeals to you, you might want to pick this game up and pvp with us. See you on StormRage.
Travian Open 5.23.08
The Travian usx server is now up and running. Join us for a round of full loot and permadeath action!
I just bought Age of Conan a few days ago and I must admit it's a good game. The graphics are jaw dropping, the FFA PvP is fun and the level grind isn't too bad.
The game feels incomplete though, there doesn't seem to be any professions, a world market, or a banking system. I'm a scrub (level 13) so I can't confirm if any of these are really the case. Maybe they're features that will be added down the road. In any case, I'm hooked. At least until Darkfall releases.
Minor Web Update 5.16.08
I got around to adding a Darkfall and World of Warcraft page for the website. I'll be polishing the overall look of the website in the next couple of weeks as well.
If you have any suggestions, feel free to critique on the forums.
Spreading Our Wings 4.21.08
With my recent retirement from World of Warcraft (clean for 5 months and proud of it), I am searching the horizon for another game for us to dominate. Something without leveling, without mindnumbing reputations and broken PvP. Imagine a pixelated world without boundaries or limits.
Darkfall is all of this and Hand of Tartarus is scheduled to make its invasion upon its release sometime next year.
Be sure to check out our forums for recent updates.
As for the web blog conversion, I can't program css so forget it. .__.
Welcome 3.1.08
Hi there!
Website is under construction (again) and should be completed soon.
If the server is compatible, the plan is to convert the site into a blog, as a way of updating vital in-game information onto the interwebs. This also allows others to report directly onto the website fast and easy.
Wish me luck! ^___^