In the dawn of Mines of Moria, the fine ladies over at Turbine decided “Hell, it was about time” to open a new development office, right in the heart of Redwood City, California, U.S. Of A., Earth. And, since opening new businesses usually involves new job spots, some ex-Flagship employees were keenly lured to join forces, in whatever future project (or projects) the company has in mind.

The first one to join Turbine's military is Dave Brevik, “ex-chief visionary officer” at Flagship, followed by Jeff Lind and Matt McKnight. All these guys were involved with Flagship, while previously Brevik was president of Blizzard North and Lind did some nasty things over at Electronic Arts, involving franchises like the The Sims and The Lord of the Rings.

We wish them luck. And most of all, we wish they can actually do a better job here than that craptastic Hellfail: London, that nobody played.

 (...)

 Continue reading 'Tokyo Game Show 2008 Trailers'...

Blizzards's Rob Pardo, Vice President of Game Design, had a recent chat with the very versatile Sticks of Joy, clarifying for them (and for us, and for the rest of the world, actually), how's it like to be producing a single game that will ship into three separate episodes. Yes, ladies and little sisters, we are, once more, talking about Starcraft 2. Or, maybe, Starcraft 2, 3 and 4.

Last week's news about the game being split in three, due to its "massive" and "epic" content was not a pleasant one, indeed. People would have expected a final product that they can devour in one setting, but hey, the strings are being pulled in different directions. Pardo insisted on the fact that the second and third campaigns are, unlike the "original" Terran Starcraft 2, NOT being considered as separate products by Blizzard. They are, let's say, the equivalent of expansion packs, so that's why the company does not think separate release dates will affect the game's overall quality. So the only thing we will miss, while waiting to play the Protoss and the Zerg, is the singleplayer component.


About timing, Pardo had no exact figures to set to the table, but being the speculative man he is, he heralded one year time between each part of Starcraft 2. Just like they are doing with World of Warcraft, where expansions are scheduled to be released in the same way. Long story short, we will buy the game in 2009, and we will get to fully enjoy it by the end on 2011.

The time has come for us to polish those shotguns and dial that Stargate secret access code, because, here it is, a closed Beta Test begins on Wednesday for FireSky's Stargate Worlds, the very much anticipated sci-fi MMO. Interested in this? I bet you are, well, at least, I am. If your breakfast consisted of immense quantities of shit and your luck has skyrocketed faster than George W. Bush can count to ten, pay a visit to the game's official website and sign up for a chance to get a spot into the Beta.



It seems like the developers are also planning some Open Beta in the near future, more exactly somewhere early in 2009. Stargate Worlds should also launch in 2009, that is, if nothing bad happens.

Oh boy! I'm pretty excited, this will finally be my chance to kill that son of a bitch Daniel Jackson, I hate that helpless idiot almost as much as I hate Bethesda.

Whenever you say Blizzard, you say Battle.net. Whenever you say Battle.net, you say free services and servers provided by Blizzard for their online community. This big badass company has been facilitating the virtual life of its fans for as long as I can remember, feeding them with decent and stable servers for their non-MMOish titles, such as the Warcraft and Diablo franchises. Fun times, indeed.

... Up until now. According to Big Download, things are about to change very soon. While covering a Diablo III gameplay panel at this year's BlizzCon, game producer Jay Wilson said something in the lines of:

"We are looking to monetize Battle.Net so that we get to keep making these games and updating features. We kind of have to."

Obviously, this will piss off fans like never before. I mean, many of them already frowned when Blizzard started to stare more at their profits and less at their fan base, with World of Warcraft squeezing large amounts of money each day, and with Starcraft 2 being cleverly sold as three separate games. But now, this?

The "good" news is that we have no details about what this "monetizing" actually means, or if it is aimed at the gamers themselves, or at some random advertising companies. Will we be forced to pay a monthly fee? A one-time fee? Or will we be staring at Coca-Cola commercials on every fucking Battlecruiser, while wiping the floor with the Protoss forces? Time will tell.

By the way. I find it peculiar that all these "clever" marketing strategies, specially designed to bring more income at all costs, have started right AFTER Activision got their paws on Blizzard. Hmmm...

PvP seems too easy so far in Warhammer Online - or, at least, Mythic thinks so. Certain world objectives, such as Fortress Lords and (contested) capital city guards, are getting a makeover in terms of imbaness, becoming a constantly increasing pain in the fine asses of all those brave enough to challenge them to a fight.

If we made them epic, at least let people feel epic when defeating them, says Mythic, and I agree. Such huge events, like storming (and conquering) well defended cities, should be much harder than it takes an airplane to crash without riposte into the walls of the Pentagon.

To help players out a bit, the company is also revamping two of Warhammer's high end armor sets as follows:

- We have updated the Annihilator and Conqueror armor sets (acquired through a variety of high level RvR) to include Wards, in order to maintain parity with PvE Armor Sets.
- The Annihilator set now includes the same Ward as that offered by the Bastion Stair's Bloodlord set.
- The Conqueror set now includes the same Ward as that offered by the City Dungeon Sentinel set.
- Players who equip pieces from the Annihilator and Conqueror armor sets will be better-equipped to challenge the Fortress Lords and contested city guards. The more pieces equipped, the better defended players will be against these deadly adversaries.

And since we're casually exchanging thoughts about World of Warcraft, let's stop for a bit and take a look at this here “casual” gamer. His Internets id seems to be Bradster and, unlike most multi-boxers out there, this guy boasts with rampaging Azeroth, Outland and (soon-to-be) Northrend with no less than 36 different accounts simultaneously. Yep, you've heard me right.



While he is a keen Horde player also interested in future solo raiding (I am expecting a “how to solo Sunwell" video when he dings 70 or 80), his main reason for this is the PvP factor. Mostly, world PvP. Beause we all know Arena is the suxx0r and that resto druids and dpslolrogues are overpowered.

This guy spends around 5711 USD per year to feed his hungry subscriptions, and intends to throw another 1500 USD down the sink when Wrath of the Lich King comes out, spending this otherwise promising pile of cash on 36 copies of the expansion. His ultimate goal? Invading Stormwind, leaving Onyxia's human form pregnant (oh, wait, she's gone), and then invading Ironforge and leaving the Gnomes pregnant. With a fucking overdose of Osama Bin Laden-like nuking power, I hope.



He uses a total number of 11 computers to do this, and his crazy idea basically involves a group of drunken, berseker-mode level 80 Orc Shamans, which are currently somewhere in the 60-70 bracket.

Well, what can I say. I wish him luck and thank God he is not on my server, since I play Alliance. A ganking extravaganza at the hands of a freaking 36 angry Elemental Shaman crew is not something I would like to witness.Over the jump you can bask in awe, reading this guy's own statement regarding this. (...)

 Continue reading 'How To Solo Sunwell With 36 WoW Accounts'...

Being a World of Warcraft player myself, every time I click on the Internets, following some random WoW news-related thing, I just hope it is not yet another “welfare” announcement. And, since this year's BlizzCon was overcrowded with more interesting news, mostly regarding Diablo III and Starcraft 2, World of Warcraft's presence was incredibly scarce.

Thank god for WorldofWar.net and the likes, dedicated sites and personnel who know what questions to ask (and, most importantly, WHEN to ask them. I remember a retarded Hungarian would-be editor who worked at a Romanian magazine, asking the Diablo III crew questions about WoW, at last year's GC).



One of the recent press conferences held at BlizzCon featured a question regarding paid in-game character customization, a feature that has long been promised. Sure, we have the barber shop and all, I can get rid of all my pub hair (and Dwarven chicks can actually shave those damned hairy breasts of theirs), but this was something different. Jay Allen cleverly avoided the question until the end, just like a drunk cat on a hot tin roof, but he had to give in after a while - Yes, folks, we WILL have this thing called paid character customization. While, just like it always happens when it comes to Blizzard, we have absolutely no details about this whatsoever, we can all try and... visualize. I think i'll be getting my hot Night Elven chick a penis, just for the lulz.

Another preorder opportunity has just popped up on the steamy service known as Steam, and this time, it's all about trading goods, raping galaxies, visiting planets and colonizing worlds full of hot virgins. That's right, X3: Terran Conflict is coming soon to a PC near you. Or, more likely, in front of you.

On October 17, players will be able to download the full, digital, product worldwide, while the retail boxed outlet is heading to European stores in the same day. In case you don't know the new and enhanced features that this game will offer, here is a short list:

- A brand new user interface allow full control using only the mouse
- New and improved mouse flight controls
- Several new races and factions, including Earth's primary military force, the Terran United Space Command
- Independent, non-player owned corporations, complete with unique ships and stations, offering new friends or foes to players
- New group management system allowing for better control of large numbers of ships in your fleet
- Over 100 new ships and several new ship classes
- Double the amount of distinct weapons
- The ability to board and capture huge capital ships with your own mercenaries and soldiers

EA is known for its innate ability to spawn countless sequels, packs, add-ons and various other things over a very short period of time, and Spore isn't, God forbid, an exception. A quick tour on the EA Store website reveals Spore: Creepy & Cute Parts Pack, some sort of expansion for the publisher's recent hit, which can be already preordered for the mere price of 19.95 USD.



While I am unsure what this thing will bring to the masses, judging just by its title, a “creature pack” that actually costs this much may not be the best idea ever. But who knows, maybe it has some features that we are unaware of.