Fileplanet has opened a Stress Test for this coming weekend to upcoming MMO, Pirates of the Burning Sea.  Check it out, see what FLS has been working on and have some fun for free!
See you there, and send a tell to Cyndre Montoya.Â
~Cyndre
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Промоакции для игроков не только в шутерах — воспользуйся промокодом Vavada от наших партнеров и получи бонусы, которые подарят азарт и атмосферу, сравнимую с игровыми победами.
.Issue 11: New Badges and Titles
City of Heroes Issue 11 will have over 70 new badges. I have already apologized to my wife, who will miss me.
You can set the name of any badge as your title. Now you can proclaim to all that you are Anemic or Inhibited. Are you a Lemming? Have a fondness for Singled Out or Missionary? (“Temerarious” means “rashly daring.” Way to pull out the thesaurus, guys.)
: Zubon
Fantasy Art
One of my favorite artists/illustrators is Wayne Reynolds. He has been doing a lot of work for Wizards of the Coast and Paizo Publishing, including the main art for Eberron and Pathfinder. Have a link to a bio, a bibliography, and two small galleries (the first is larger), along with wallpapers and larger images. You can also find his stuff scattered throughout the Wizards of the Coast galleries, not always listed by name. I can’t find a good single place for his stuff, and not all of it is online (like some nice ones from Dragon that made it into the Compendium book, which does not have a gallery that I could find).
Flipping through the Wizards archives reminds me that Sam Wood has also done a lot of great art for this generation of Dungeons and Dragons. If you have a favorite piece from D&D 3rd Edition, it is probably from one of those two or Todd Lockwood. Anyone know of any games that are tapping these folks?
: Zubon
Chewing Through Content
In terms of creating new content, the players I want are achievers and socializers. They are the easiest to satisfy.
Killers
Maybe I should want killers. Many seem to prefer no updates at all. All the new PvE content in the world is useless to them, unless there is something new to harvest that could be of PK use, in which case they will condescend to suffer through a bit in order to get back to the real game.
An Update on our LOLfuture
I mentioned last time that we were on our way to lolpocalypse. The harbinger has arrived: lolthulhu. There is hope, though. Perhaps the path through The LOLcat Wasteland will instead lead to LOLsingularity. That may or may not be a good thing.
: Zubon
Hat tips to Daily Illuminator, Prettier Than Napoleon, and Language Log. Personally I prefer lolPrufrock:
i can has backpart? i can has peach?
im in ur white flannel trousers walkin on ur beach
have heard mermaids singing each in eachi do not think they say o hai to me.
Information Overload
for someone completely new to MMORPGs, picking up the game and getting through all the new customizations is a bigger issue. I have many first time players in my guild, and as they leveled up there was a clear knowledge gap apparent between what they knew from learning in game, and what I knew from my outside reading even about classes I had never played. Increasingly complex customizations are required to be successful in the game, especially if you are looking at the pvp game.
I have no idea how a casual City of Heroes player would know to look for all the task forces or hidden contacts. As an experienced gamer, I no longer expect the game to guide me much beyond a basic tutorial, and I do not trust the tutorial to guide me towards good decisions because of the gap between the designers’ original vision and what is actually effective in the game.
In our guild, you ask Adam or I about rules specifics, and you ask whoever specializes in that class for guidance on big decisions. If you are not tapped into the information network, how very lost are you?
: Zubon
Scaring Pickup Groups
Most of us have had bad experiences with pickup groups. My supergroup’s unintentional habit is giving pickup groupmates really terrifying (but rewarding) experiences.
We got our first level-capped characters back before ED, before aggro and target caps. Back then, you herded an entire map and blew it up at once. We knew we were doing it right when everyone simultaneously got graphics error pop-ups because the game could not register that many explosions. We still do this to the extent that we can, fighting as much of the map as possible at once. It saves us the bother of running around, and we win consistently.
When you join our group, we don’t say much. We are all on Teamspeak. We might give you a bit of warning, but we don’t really think about it. We’re used to this. You will be told “stay here,” and off runs someone to pull.
And then someone else. And maybe another. And then someone snipes from the group. And by “pull,” we mean “pull an entire group,” not pull one target. Amidst the ghostly silence, people come bouncing back, followed by an angry horde of werewolves, robots, and fascist vampires. They are following our pullers, so if you peek your head around that corner, they are all heading straight at your face, shooting plasma bolts. Welcome to the team!
: Zubon
NCSoft Buys “City Of” Franchise
According to the press release, NCSoft has acquired 100% of the rights to the CoX franchise from Cryptic. According to Ex Libris, one of the CoH forum moderators, the CoX dev team are now working as NCSoft employees. There are several more press releases linked off of that one, including one that mention soon-to-be-announced expansions and sequels.
Woo! My guys won!
Well, they’re not technically “my guys”; we don’t shower together and I don’t run with that crew, but I like their work a lot.
Yup, I just found out -late- that Andromeda Software Development (ASD) had just gone and won first place on Assembly ’07 with their “Lifeforce” production. So, well-deserved kudos, and you’ll understand why once you download and run that prod: Masterful use of layers and transitions, with a nice thematic thread all through it to boot, as usual with these guys.
Yes, I’ve been a demoscene nut for a long, long time now. And this has very little to do with gaming per se, but “Lifeforce” is one of those things you just have to share with the masses. If you’re still lost about all this, why, you just need to click on the conveniently placed “read more” link thingie below. Like this:
Gotta collect ’em all!
I must have some sort of gamer’s OCD because I find myself unable to complete Phantom Hourglass without finding the last two gems (which are not required) to power up my Spirits (also not required).
If you have a Nintendo DS, you really should get this game. It’s the first in a long time that really uses both screens constantly and engagingly. Even my concern about using the stylus to completely drive the game has faded, as it’s so easy to use and natural.
If you do, send me a Wisdom and Courage gem, huh? *wanders off mumbling*