Real World Interlude

This entry deals with real world news, so if you’re avoiding all  that nonsense, skip this one.

Anna Chapman is my hero of the hour. But! But but but. Let me explain that statement.

Pictured to the right is Ms Chapman.

The news says she is a suspected Russian spy.

 

Now, I’m not anti America and supporting a spy. I am geeking out over something that Sky News put in my head. When they broke the story, over and over they said it was like a real life spy novel. Personally I didn’t see it. Sure there is a ring of suspects and I have no real idea what they have or have not done. However, when it came to them putting a face to them, the picture shown here is the one they splashed on tv.

Now it’s a real life spy story. Sure the plot is a little lame, but hey, you’ve given us a Bond Girl.

What’s not to love?

WAR EU

This little tidbit has come to my attention.

Will I be able to transfer to North American servers immediately?
◦We do
have plans to allow European customers to transfer to and from our North
American servers. However, this option will not be available at the time of
launch.

Sure I went back to WAR for a bit with Sareini but, in reality, I played maybe two or three days. I'm busy with things at home and in other games. That said, the ability to take the characters I still love, the goodies I managed to grab up (Kossars Helm from C&C RA3, Scarabs from codes etc) and move it all over to the timezone I actually live in? Fantastic!

That may well get me back. No promises of course... but it'd be an option to play again when I know there'd be major action going on.

Sorry for GOA, but I'll be keeping an eye on this.

Proof of the pudding

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

I previewed Lego Universe for OnRPG here a while back. Keep in mind, the preview was based on early early closed beta stuff. Even on the back of that, I now have my pre-order ordered.

Even if Lego isn't your thing, trust me, this is a gift to get.

Success is commemorated. Failure merely remembered.

Massively have a wonderful interview with Mark Downie from Vigil on Warhammer 40,000.

One good quote I like.

All that we've seen in the trailer is actual gameplay footage?
Mark: Absolutely.

Mark goes on to talk about the work they’re doing with Games Workshop in making the setting properly Warhammer as well as the lovely bonus of

Mark: Pretty much anything that gets added into the 40k universe in our MMO will get added to the canon, part of the war, and will receive the blessing of Games Workshop.

Head on over to the interview to check it out and keep an eye on OnRPG.com where soon I will be going through the background, the build up and the battle that is Warhammer 40,000 Dark Millennium.

(Bonus Fluff Theory: In the closing days of the 41st millennium the Emperors Golden Throne had started to fail. A Q&A I had one Games Day with Sandy Mitchell of the Ciaphas Cain series mentioned that GW was holding up the story for now, letting it all get to the same point. If the game creates canon, is this Dark Millennium the opening chapter of the 42nd and the greatest upheaval The Imperium has ever known? Exciting prospect.)

Also you know, while the Imperium quotes are great for blog titles, it makes everything sound very grimdark. Nor is it necessarily a commentary on Warhammer: Age of Reckoning.

Blind faith is a just cause. (WH40K)

In his Glorious Majesty’s realm, blind faith is a just cause. Granted that says an awful awful lot about the world of the Imperium.

A quick look at my blog list this morning got me a few links. On the one hand we have Shadow-War and We Fly Spitfires on the cautious but positive view. On the other we have Syncaine in his crusade against all things WoW taking a snarky tack, along with The War Realm being unimpressed.

To each their own really. Syncaine insists that Dark Millennium doesn’t look dark and gloomy enough and is WoW in the future. War Realm has come down on the side of the trailer being CGI and thus useless (coughOldRepubliccough).

They may have a point. Perhaps games have been unfairly influenced out of all proportion by World of Warcraft. At the same time maybe that’s because the influences weren’t all negative. Maybe the trailer doesn’t give everything you want to know, but hey that to me looked pretty damn slick and THQ did all its cinematics in the engine for Dawn of War. If they were going the CGI route full of pretty and no substance, they could have gone further.

Me? I’m all for it. We’ve gone from what was just a bullet point on a THQ statement, through small bits of concept art into a trailer that shows me some pretty exciting things. Maybe Syncaine is right and the Kopta isn’t piloted and is more like WoWs griffins. Maybe there will be a ridiculous amount of PvE questing. Maybe all the naysayers will be right on the money and it will be World of Warhammercraft 40k.

Or maybe… just maybe it’s as good as it looks. Given the option of being negative or being an mmo blogger… I’m going to have to go with the unbridled out of proportion optimism. I have faith in Vigil Games and THQ. I am not yet ready to call for the Exterminatus on the Dark Millennium.

Blogging or living in the grim darkness of the far future, blind faith is a just cause.

The Dark Millennium

No waiting. Watch now!

Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium Online!

A quick breakdown of what I’ve made out.

Factions

• The Imperium
• Chaos
• Orks

Possible Player Characters

• Space Marines (In Nomine Imperator!)
• Mechanicus (As the Omnissiah wills)
• Imperial Guard/Kasrkin (Men of the Emperor!)
• Chaos Space Marines (Khârn is a pretty fun guy)
• Chaos Cultists (Sanity if for the WEAK!)
• Orks (DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA!)

Some other things that stick out from the video.

That’s gameplay footage that is! Mmmm gameplay.

There’s something that looks suspiciously like an Eldar Farseer going up against the Chaos Dreadnaut as the music climaxes.

Finally, the means of getting around looks interesting. I saw Space Marine bikes (and of course Chaos bikes), Trukks and Koptas. Flying mounts as well as the purely mundane? Yes please.

The quick run down of things you will not see? Kroot, Tau, Necrons (my favourites), Tyranids and Dark Eldar. Does that mean they aren’t there at all? I couldn’t say. Perhaps they will be NPC factions, perhaps they are for later inclusion or expansions. For all the talk of Warhammer Age of Reckoning needing a third faction, I don’t think a 7+ way war in the 41st Millennium is particularly viable, especially given some of the omnicidal armies.

In conclusion for this first bit, it’s good to be a 40K fan. THQ, having proved themselves more than capable of capturing the feel of the universe in the Dawn Of War series, are bringing us both Dark Millennium and Space Marine. On top of that we have the Ultramarines movie moving forward.

There is only one final thing I need to know from that video…. who do I have to kill to become a Princeps and drive the Titan?

Missed Calling

Why is BioWare making an MMO?

Sure there is all the PR marketing hype. Sure there are the legions of Knights of the Old Republic fans who are salivating over the IP. Sure I suppose it’ll be a very good game.

But why bother making a game when they would be better suited shaming George Lucas and making an epic movie?

If you haven’t yet seen it, that link is for the Star Wars : The Old Republic “Hope” trailer. Seriously EA/BioWare, you can tell me all you want about how many voice actors you’re going to have, how big the game is going to be and all of that but in my mind, you’re better spent on crafting us a different sort of entertainment.

Warhammers Black Ops

Apparently the Skaven may or may not be coming. Who knows? It's all rumours at the moment.

I've talked about Skaven before and Planetside.
So my quick two cents.

Skaven Classes!

• Grey Seer - Equivalent to Archmage and Shaman. Variously imbibing Warpstone and expelling it to weave spells.

OR

• Plague Monk - Equivalent to Rune Priest and Zealot (this one is Sareinis)
• Warpfire Cannon Skaven - Equivalent to Engineer or Magus. Guns ho!
• Assassain - Witch Elves and Witch Hunters suddenly find sneaky rats butting in.
• Rat Ogre Tamer - White Lions and Squig Herders.

But one race alone wouldn't properly shake up RvR, it'd have to be an entire faction. Unless you go the Planetside Black Ops route.

If Skaven do make an appearance and exist primarily to foul up the plans of everyone else...well that's Skaven-y and perfectly fine by me.

Retropreciation

I’ve only told you like 200 times or some such but my first MMO was Earth & Beyond. This is important because it came out in 2002 and I played it on a 56k modem which thankfully was on one of the first packages in Ireland to offer flat rate unlimited off peak internet.

That was my first foray into the massively multiplayer world and fortunately or unfortunately it was a sci-fi space game. I never had the really old school experiences.

Partially, I never had them because I never heard of MMO gaming until poking around Westwoods site for information on Command and Conquer. Partially I never had them because even if I had discovered Dark Age of Camelot or Everquest at the time they were new I wouldn’t have been able to afford the phone bills. Or my parents wouldn’t have if I am honest.

Why am I dragging these back into the light of day? Well someone else has.

Sure I can understand intellectually that some of those old school mechanics died because they were a pain. Or perhaps they were a barrier to higher subscriptions. Maybe they were simply boring and are just looked on fondly because they are old.

Sure I know that if the games of tomorrow were still being cranked out like the games of that many yesterdays there’d be uproar. But still… so much in the gaming blogosphere is hype. Nostalgia is a hype all of its own and I have to say I can appreciate the retro look, the bygone ways and yesteryears feel.

Would I like to give it a spin? Sure. Though I’ll have to settle for fond remembrances from others passed on which in the end condense all those years of gaming to just the best bits.

Lord of the Rings Online goes F2P

Everyone is talking about it. Seriously. This is but a drop in the ocean but Lord of The Rings Online will be going free to play this summer.

Lifetime Subscribers will according to someone on twitter be getting free VIP for life.

So if you’ve never before followed in the footsteps of the Fellowship, will this shift be enough to get you in for elevenses?