It'll be a sh!t game, don't buy it.

Ragnar Tornquist on The Secret World

Now Live on OnRPG.com !

Conspiracies… myths… half truths, careful lies and dark places. All of these are in The Secret World. All myths are true, for a given value. All conspiracies are being played out by the major factions, so long as it suits them.

Templar, Dragon, Illuminati. A world beneath and a game on the horizon. Whatever you know about The Secret World, game creator Ragnar Tornquist says it best on twitter.

“RagnarTornquist @RarePc No, it'll be a shit game, don't buy it. OF COURSE it's going to be a good game, worth every penny, cross my heart, etc. Peace. #TSW”

Of course he’s joking. This game is his baby and soon we will all get to witness its birth onto the AAA MMO gaming scene. If you haven’t been following the rise and reveals of The Secret World, then more than any other game before you are missing a treat. Sure there is the normal hype surrounding it. Where there are fans, there are huge expectations and opinions. Where there are fans, there are detractors and naysayers. All of that we’re used to, heck for some of us it’s how we got our start in the MMO blog scene. Hype breeds excitement, excitement breeds word of mouth and we all know what word of mouth can do for, or in darker cases to, a game.

This game though, it has been creeping around in all the dark places. It has been waiting, growing. Spinning tales and weaving webs. I speak of course of the many ARGs (Alternate Reality Games) related to The Secret World. Even if you aren’t a fan of MMOs, and if not I’d wonder why you’re reading this, it has been quite an experience.

I personally have followed the tweets of some of the unwitting souls of Kingsmouth. I have read of the Monsters of Maine and the Sanctuary Of Secrets. All of these things are being played out on the internet. Sometimes in bursts, full of action and teases. Other times subtly and over a period of time. Unlike any other game I have watched come from concept art, through the teasing trailers and into the market, The Secret World has won my adulation and interest through its mystery. Through the fact that the more I know, the more I want to. All the conspiracies and myths await, all the promises of a secret world, a hidden war and a story unlike any I personally have played with before are just ahead of me.

For people who are left looking at this entry, wanting more, expecting something other than the gushing of a proclaimed fan, there is plenty to be found. There is information close at hand and on the official game forums. Ragnar himself is answering questions every so often on Formspring.me. The Alternate Reality Games get picked apart by a rabid and dedicated fan base on more than one occasion. Of course the best information comes from community questions on the forums themselves here, here and here.

Will it be, as Ragnar joked, a sh-oh look a kitty-t game? I for one am happy with my expectations. I think it will be every bit as deep, every bit as enthralling and mysterious as advertised. In the end, every game has fans and detractors. Every game will have nay-sayers and rabid supporters. I am going for the game whose manner and mystery caught my imagination… not with pretty graphics or insane game play. They weren’t shown yet when I first was snared by it. No, they made me imagine all the possibilities and that, the promise of the mind, is why I will follow the Templar into the darkness of Argartha. Into The Secret World.

New World, New Look, New Info.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the absolute latest information from City Of Heroes : Going Rogue.

Firstly, information on the gorgeous Nova Praetoria, the centre of Emperor Coles powerbase.

Nova Praetoria 

This city ward, considered to be the most exclusive district in all of Praetoria, houses the elite of Praetorian society: Cole’s trusted Praetors and the myriad state employees and officials who have been given the special privilege to live and work next to humankind’s savior, Emperor Marcus Cole.

From Cole Tower, the tallest building and most dominant landmark in all of Nova Praetoria, Emperor Cole can survey all that he has fought hard to protect.

In the Magisterium below, his Praetors gather for the day-to-day business in Praetoria, capital of the Empire.

Surrounding the Magisterium courtyard are the five most influential structures in Praetorian government: the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Technology, the Civic Center, the Praetoria Police Headquarters, and the Cole Transport Authority.

Statues of the Praetors stand like sentinels over the Magisterium, reminding all who visit that Cole’s trusted advisors watch over the city with constant vigilance.

But these statues pale in comparison to the glory of Emperor Cole’s likeness, which stands before his tower, hand outstretched in greeting to all who visit here. Before this colossus stands the statue of Praetor White, Praetoria’s enforcer and head of the Powers Division, Praetoria’s super-powered police force.

Where there is a city, there is a support structure and in the darkness below the gem of Nova Praetoria we have The Underground.

The Underground
The Underground is a network of tunnels that traverse the soft underbelly of Praetoria.

It was created to keep the appearance of the aboveground portion of the city unspoiled and uncluttered while the day-to-day maintenance and transportation tasks were carried out away from public view. Using the Lethe as its main artery, the tunnels follow a winding path through Nova Praetoria to Neutropolis and beyond. 

Not all is fun and games in the darkness though. Things lurk and people plot.

 

You’d be best not to take Nova Praetoria at face value…

(More information to come soon we hope and keep an eye on OnRPG.com for my take on Going Rogue soon)

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.

Previews, Reviews and Writing

Okay let’s get back into the swing of things.

First thing I should mention is that I have in the past had some communication from PR companies asking me to preview or review games. Sadly the email address you can get on my profile tends to be ignored more often than not. If you have contacted me in the past or intend to in the future, I have taken steps to keep up with that email address better. Also if I may, I would suggest you contact the fantastic editors over at OnRpg.com for p/reviews as well. Sure it may not be me who ends up getting the particular assignment but give them a shout and if you still want blogger coverage as well, drop me a line.

Second while they update less frequently than I, if you have an interest in fantasy literature or reading in general, check out Quilldragon.com.

Finally things of mine have started going up over at OnRpg and there’s more in the pipeline. For here though, to get my lazy butt back into the blogging groove I’ll take suggestions on something you want me to natter about. Drop a comment and assuming you’re not trying to torture me (Terry, I’m watching you) we’ll see what happens.

Woo!

Woohoo! I'm up at OnRPG specifically my City of Heroes review. It's my first, be gentle.

http://www.onrpg.com/MMO/City-of-Heroes/review/City-of-Heroes-Review-Welcome-to-Paragon-City

OnRPG

Well folks, it’s now official. I’ve been hired by www.OnRpg.com to write for them. God only knows what they did to deserve me heh.

Still if you want to pop by the Forums and threaten me with GBH feel free. I’ll still be blogging here of course and will make mention when there’s a new and interesting article up.

Or you could follow the twitter. OnRPG Twitter

My first piece will be going up soon.

Overactive Imagination

Yesterday Shannon told me she had "badish" news. Turns out she needs a new chair. Nothings wrong with the old one, it's just not good for her back. This only rates as "badish" due to well... money.

"So what?" you may ask. I agree, it's a little detail. However, at the time Shannon took forever to tell me this "badish" news. There were tangents and then quibbles over how bad it really was. I didn't care, I just wanted to know. My mind was coming up with all the horrible scenarios it could. Is it really not bad or is it in fact a whole lot worse than advertised?

Not knowing is the worst thing. When you know what a problem is there at least exists the possibility of planning for it, facing it or running away like a little girl.

Not knowing in an MMO context is also powerful. I didn't know much of Cryptics plans for Star Trek bar that it was Cryptic and my mind ran away with the possibilities. It was also proven right (sadly) in many of them. I don't know a whole lot about The Secret World beyond that I want it and again, my mind is dancing with what may be.

However recently I've noticed fewer games doing that to me, at least in an online context. C&C 4? I'm thrilled. WoW Cataclysm? Meh. Despite what it could mean for the genre. Sword of the Stars 2? Woo! Allods? I haven't a clue what that's all about. Am I getting crankier and more insular as I get older? Am I more concerned about solo or casual experiences where I can do my own thing despite all the friends and connections I've made through MMOs?

Or is it simply there's not enough wonder in the genre at the moment? Of course everyone's taste is different. What has me fascinated by The Secret World may not work for someone else and they'll instead be salivating over FF14. When I first saw online games, they were mysterious things to me. Ireland was way behind the times as far as online connectivity went. These persistent worlds where anything could happen seemed like a little slice of gaming nirvana, Christmas and my birthday all in one package that I'd get every day.
Now though when people are looking at games it seems to either be "This is <X Game> with features lifted from <Y & Z with some poorly done -i>"  or "This is <A Studio>'s 2nd/3rd/4th/5th MMO with <overdone or rather rubbish signature trademark>".

Right now The Secret World is giving me what Warhammer gave me, what Warhammer 40k will give me and what my other games did. It is giving my mind something to run away with. To imagine the vistas that lay before me, even if the reality is somewhat lacking in the end. I will always treasure the run up to Warhammer for the excitement of the time and the bloggers I met.

It may turn out that The Secret World suffers, or has a bad launch (seriously Funcom, prove people wrong this time), or is simply crap. Either way for now I'm 16 again, seeing those unspoiled unknown worlds laid before me and happy with what may be.

Scarybooster Asks Me Stuff

Hop on over to Scary Booster (you should have been going anyway!) and see my barely coherent ramble in response to his fantastic article section that’ll release every Monday about the bloggers you know and may follow on Twitter.

How I became Ardua

Commentapalooza : The Tobolding

For my junk post to inspire comments, I take my lead from Ysharros and I expand upon the point made.

While pie is meh, I posit that this refers only to the American convention of fruit based pies. Cottage Pie and Shepards pie when made well are far superior to mere fruit pie.
Further and to reiterate, Mince Beef and Onion pie is awesome.

However, to grant Ysharros one small boon, my father swears by (oh how I wish it was at) apple pie with cheese on top.
I prefer cheese and peanut butter sandwiches.

For Tobold by the League for Greater Comment Volume. Never mind the quality — feel the width!

League Memebers
Ferrel who hates bloody peasants.
Ysharros wielder of the holy cheese
Syp whom the cheese did not agree with
Rivs who is piloting the breakaway Attention Whore Union
Frank who gives tips and points out he whom we must topple.

The Cryptic Model

This morning I was talking to my good friend Seph (That's Sephorus or Hey, Bitch! to you). Given that we met in City of Heroes and have become good friends, we tend to talk about the game a fair bit. Of course no conversation about City of Heroes nowadays will stay away from Champions for long.

So I ask, are you happy with the Cryptic Model?

Seph: It's not a game I'd sign up for right this second. There's too many things that I feel need more polish for them to be acceptable. However, there's enough stuff either done well or with the potential to be polished up real damn nicely that, given a bit of time, I'd play it. It's certainly in the category of "when I'm done with City of Heroes". Not something I'd jump ship for, but not something I'm willing to pass up, either.

The emphasis in the above is mine.

Polish, that dastardly term trotted out every time someone compares something to WoW. Does it have the polish of WoW? Did they spend enough time on polish? It isn't as polished as it could be.
This isn't a dig at WoW, but rather at the term. A polished turd is just a shiny turd. A diamond in the rough is just as good as a flawless one, it simply hasn't gotten there yet but you can see the worth.

Anyway that's a divergence, if polish is synonymous with WoW and Blizzard, what then is the Cryptic Model?
I submit that it is more stuff than you could ever possibly use.

Take a look around at what people are saying about Champions, almost universally is the mention of the character creator and for good reason. Cryptic broke ground with the City of Heroes creator and this one has even more crammed into it. Moving
tails, limb sliders, stances, how you want to run, mood, backpacks and more. I know someone who spent literal hours in the creator, saving characters and doing it all again.
If you preorder, you get more options; if you microtransact, more options. If you get the 6 month or lifetime sub, even more options. So many options that they carry over into Star Trek Online where for reasons best known to themselves they're
offering Mirror Universe skins (do not get me started on that, I'm keeping that nerdrage for later).
Every Issue of City of Heroes had yet more options of things to do. Champions will likely have the same. Options upon options upon options. For some, this is nirvana.

However it seems to be the hat for Cryptic. People are complaining about how the game is set up, or performing or how its console dna is showing. Cryptic on the other hand is touting the colour customization (and boy did they learn that lesson well after telling City of Heroes it couldnt be done, which...soon it can be), modular powersets and the flexibility of the creator.

Is the game polished? I couldn't begin to guess. My graphics card is still in Silicon Heaven so everything I see is rough and ugly.

Are they even trying? I can't say for sure, I got lost in their submenus trying to find out.

Polish be damned, they want you to select your eyebrows.

It's The End Of The World As We Know It

...and I feel fine.

Yes this is somewhat related to World of Warcraft : Cataclysm

Coming with the latest WoW expansion is something that I've personally only seen once before. A change of the worlds landscape on a major scale. Previously I saw this with The Bending in Planetside when the plaent Auraxis shoved its bits across the cosmos (and completely removed the Oshur continent in favour of Battle Islands).

That said, and I'm sure its happened more than I've seen, in any healthy game, the world ends on a regular basis. Well... the world as you knew it anyway.

How many shifts does it take though until the world you started in and the world you have now are only vaugely related in your mind? Old hands will always complain about how easy it is to level now, newbies wont know about aspects of certain areas and miss scads of story. Is this a move forward though? In some cases yes. I imagine Cataclysm will cause a wave of alts through the old content as people go to see what has become of what they grew bored of/outleveled. In other cases, I don't know. Champions had me go through two versions of two early zones. While they served as good introductions they're also misleading. The impression I got of Canada bore no relation to what the zone actually is. That sudden spike of awe was invalidated by the world changing so quickly.

Syp has posted over on Bio Break about the difference between convenience and consistency. Making the game easier versus keeping what the game was. Whichever wins out for each game, sooner or later the world changes. Let's just hope in the games you love, it's always a change worth singing about.

Champions and Ardy

I knew I forgot something. I had a long string of blogging to be doing about Champions. I've stuff yet to come on the Microtransaction bits, MMO bits and so on.

This however is inspired by Werit, Keen and the players of the Shield of Paragon, Guardian Angels and other Coh supergroups.

I don't really like Champions.

That said, I never really did. There are some who greeted the news way back when of a Champions mmo and from their reaction it was though the Lord God himself came down and handed them a dream. Hark how the angels sing, go forth and pwn for justice.
I was unimpressed. Maybe it's a function of those gaps in my geekery that are responsible for me never having played a single Blizzard game (and boy was twitter shocked at that).

That first feeling has carried all the way through closed beta up until now.

First a quick comparison. This time last year I was chomping at the bit to get into Warhammers closed beta. I wanted that game. When I got the CO beta invite, I had forgotten I applied. Most midweek preview sessions ("Hi it's wednesday, log in, test") came when I was busy and the weekend ones rarely stood a chance if there was anything going on in Paragon City.

Champions has delivered a truely impressive Character Creator. But you know what? I'm not going to give them awards for that. Of course they delivered one. They made City of Heroes and its character creator. Delivering anything less than what they left behind in the hands of Paragon Studio would have been staggering idiocy. As much as some people will give it its due with the hours you can spend tweaking to your hearts delight, well... sometimes I just would like to play. It shouldnt take long to get from login to tutorial. When you're being given options to change the size of different parts of a single limb, you've gotten a tad silly in my book.

The variations on the characters get especially pointless when you consider the type of game Champions is. It's supposed to be action packed, quick quick quick, hit the button, build your energy, FINISH HIM! With the amount of sharding they're doing (Keen called it redundant instancing) and the pace of combat they want, I haven't yet seen how the game will have a social centre. Perhaps I'm wrong or more likely I didn't play enough. Champions though feels like a ritalin deprived game. They don't want you standing and spinning stories, they want you out beating the next guy with a tree you ripped out of the ground (which is admittedly cool). Who cares if your biceps ripple ever so slightly and your eyebrows are a certain way and your facial expression is sad. I'm going to notice your size, any bright colours, how you travel/hit and if you run funny. That's it though. The faster the game pushes me, the less time I have to take in what took you three hours and a muse to create when you'd have been just as effective if you hit the random button.

One note on the character creator. City of Heroes players, prepare to recognise many pieces. I don't just mean the art, I mean the names as well. I don't know if Cryptic retained rights to bits and pieces of CoH. For example the game engine (at least according to wiki so take that with a grain of salt) is a modified version of the CoH one.

Moving on, there are bits about Champions I enjoyed. The travel powers all have looked good and add a nice touch, however when you look at them close they're mostly variations on flight and jumping. Still they do look good.

I enjoyed the ability to select from where some powers originate, I liked how quick and easy it was to change power colours (whereas when CoH has it in Issue 16, I predict many trips to Icon). There are plenty of a-okay things about the game, but none of them grabbed me.

There are also plenty of things I hate. In case you hadn't guessed I hate the pacing. It's bad enough that with the instancing I may end up selecting zones to follow friends only to find that they've done a certain mission and ended up in yet another instance where I cannot follow (or at least if there is an easy way to follow, I didnt see it. Im talking about moving from Wartorn tutorial Millenium city to peaceful and from wintery blizzard Canada to regular old Canada, same place different versions).
The game is all go. For some that will work, they want the action and get it quickly. For others, I forsee early burn out.
I hate the cel shading animation, I always have. It's never done anything for me though I will grant it is very true to the comic book feel. I hate the chat system where everyone at all times is reminded of my username. And why is that? Well apparently there wont ever be any naming conflicts. You too can be Superman, because your usename will make it unique. Don't give me the monster of a creation suite you have and then make it so that I wont have my own name in the end.

In the end, I've come out of closed beta the same way I went in, unimpressed. City of Heroes has flaws, I'll happily point them out in a second, but despite that they're working on improving the game with each issue (Ardy hates the AE though). I'd sooner spend a day in Paragon City than Millenium City.

The most damning thing about Champions though? I was worried it would gut City of Heroes.
Every single player I know across several global channels has reacted the same way, "Thanks but no thanks".

Champions, you have one final crippling flaw to me and one shining virtue.
Firstly, you have Jack "Statesman" "Force Field isnt broken" Emmert. I don't trust that man any more and while he appears to be learning from some mistakes, I am not yet convinced.

The virtue though? Every thing you do makes Paragon Studios have to work harder to retain its numbers and suceed. Survival of the fittest. I don't think Champions could kill City of Heroes, but it certainly looks like it could forge its predecessor into something unstoppable.

Our world, our wars.

CCP, I love you. Honestly I do.

Why the love for the Icelandic crowd some ask? Well simply they're doing two wonderful things.

Firstly they are launching a console based online FPS game, Dust 514.
Secondly, it is based within the universe of EVE and will interact with the podders.

Pc Gamers and Console Gamers apparently don't get along. So say the games reviews, the fanboys on each side and more besides. I, personally, always thought it was quite odd for Final Fantasy XI to have been launched on consoles. After all it has enough on its plate with the Japan/everyone else divide without throwing in desktop Vs console.
Consoles to me seem more ... for unwinding. I can sit down with a console game and merrily destroy my enemies. It doesnt matter if it's fps, a fighting game, rts or a sim; I have enemies and they need destroying. There's a clear start, there's a middle and an end. You start your race, defend your home, make your first move and then the plot comes after.
Eventually you've won your freedom, won your race or made the best damn Sim torturing device known to man.

MMOs however seem to sit in the middle of the story. No one wants to see their MMO end. Certain plot threads perhaps, but they want the world to continue, to deliver on that persistence promise. At the same time MMOs don't have a clear start for players. The reason for playing took place in the story before anyone ever logged in. There is a world with all its history, you are not the origin of the tale.

How then can the two mindsets co-exsist?
Rather well if my wild unfounded mass guessing is correct.

CCP will be delivering Dust 514 to consoles. It will be familiar to such players. Have gun, will travel. If you've played Halo online, I think you'll probably be able to handle Dust 514.
It's set in the universe of New Eden though. That place where the wonderous stories come from. Where even Dev blogs are a delight (See Operation Unholy Rage).

New Eden has a shake up coming. The cloning tech that lets pod pilots fly without worrying about that silly little mortality issue will be adapted for ground forces. Soldiers that can go on living even after being blown into ludicrous gibs and learn from the experience. These soldiers, these warriors from the console world who are "trained" for this sort of fight will have an effect on New Eden. They will help the ships and fleets win entire worlds.

Personally I've always been unwilling to play EVE because of one simple fact, I don't think I would do it justice.
We read the stories of how slick conmen win one on thousands, of assassination plots and of capers that make millions. I love to read about that universe but never have felt that I would give it what it deserves to be a part of it. Now, now I can.

Dust 514 will tie two platforms and two genres together in such a seamless manner that I'm giddy about not only playing the game but what it means for that old PcVsConsole war.

They're not the enemy anymore, they're the men and women you need to win the next world and in turn you're the pilots whose fleets will bring them new worlds to conquer.

Casual twitch gamer or dedicated corporate magnate. We each have a part to play in that world

Obvious Cat is Obvious

If you follow me on Twitter you'll have seen that I tweeted from Champions Online.

So I can say the following happily without breaking the NDA, I think.

I'm in the Champions Beta, it can tweet.
I'm saving the rest until I check the NDA etc, I know that Syp had to ask for permission to blog about his time there so I'm going to tread lightly for now.

So much game...

Hopefully I'll be back to blogging properly by Friday.

As a catch up, I've two quasi-static friends teams running in City of Heroes. Patch 1.3 has hit Warhammer and I've to check it out.
Oh, and to top it all off, I've recently had beta invites to three games. Two I have taken, the third was a fileplanet invite and I wasn't much bothered.

There's an awful lot to play and then I'll have plenty to say.

Woohoo!

Thanks to the blogosphere (I wish I was putting information out rather than taking it in as usual, must work on that) I too have gotten myself the nifty Scarab amulet.

So far ....
CE Retail Box Includes: The Librams of Insight, Custom Character Heads and more!
Pre-Order Includes: Rittenbach's Portable Camp and Guardian's Iolite Band
Reward: White Dwarf Includes: Custom Dwarf Head
Reward: Email Validated Includes: Title - 'The Validated'
Reward: C&C Red Alert 3 Includes: Kossar's Helm
Preview Weekend Provides access to Preview Weekend
CE Open Beta Provides access to the CE Open Beta
CE Head Start Provides access to the CE Head Start
Reward: Choppa/Slayer Custom Heads Includes: Choppa/Slayer Custom Heads
Reward: Scarab Amulet Includes: Scarab Amulet
Reward: Shroud of the Imrathepis Includes: Shroud of the Imrathepis

One day Skaven Cloak, you will be mine.
(What? CoH has badge whoring, WAR has the Tome and rewards :P)

I'm going to regret this

Head over to Quilldragon for a shot at torturing me.

WCPI : Gaarawarr Gabs

This week in WCPI I hereby promote my new favourite person.

Gaarawarr has a fantastic blog dealing with his views on patches, updates, armors, wards and so much more.

If nothing else, he should be worshipped for these two. " Moar Tokens! " and his Guides section.

Read, enjoy and like me, plan out what you'll be doing tonight. Moar tokens indeed.

Quilldragon Now Open

Ladies and Gents, Quilldragon is now open.

If you like fantasy literature or just really like the bunch of bloggers involved, pop on over and check us out.
If not, do it anyway or face my wrath! Muhahahahaha.

Heads up people.

Coming soon