During our PAX East 2013 interview, Jack Emmert let us in on a secret. That Neverwinter, the company’s action-oriented MMORPG set in the Dungeon & Dragons universe, would be heading to open beta very soon. Unlike some other developers out there it appears that Cryptic Studios wasn’t leading on gamers. Cryptic Studios and Perfect World Entertainment announced early today that Neverwinter will move to its open beta testing phase on April 30.
But before gamers get full access with no fear of wipes, there’s one final hooray for those early adopters and lucky beta key winners. Next Friday, April 12 until Sunday, April 14 eligible players will receive 60 hours to hone their experience farming routine. Of most interest to some will be another topic discussed during the interview, a first crack at Neverwinter’s Profession system. Be it Leadership, Leatherworking, Mailsmithing or Platesmithing, all four profession will be available to those interested.
“We’ve never been in a better place launching a game,” said Jack Emmert, CEO, Cryptic Studios. “While the entire team is focused on launching Neverwinter’s Open Beta on April 30, we still wanted to thank those committed Founders who stuck with us. Since the beginning of Neverwinter’s Beta Weekends, our Founders have shown us that Neverwinter offers engaging game mechanics, unique features and a gameplay experience that is parallel to subscription or paid games. They have become our biggest supporters and we wanted to give them Beta Weekend 4 as a token of our appreciation.”
After the jump is the latest trailer, What is Neverwinter, and a collection of new screenshots. Time is running out to become a Founder and acquire guaranteed beta access and exclusive items. Continue Reading
Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic Studios gave the Lore Hound community a perfect opportunity to follow up on the recently-published exclusive interview with Cryptic Studios CEO Jack Emmert. The in-depth interview opened up nearly as many questions as it answered so Lore Hound bit at the chance to elaborate on select responses or dive into completely new topics.
Jack and iTZKooPA cover a wide variety of topics in the PAX East 2013 interview. R.A. Salvatore and his novels come into play. There’s prodding on what to expect the Neverwinter gameplay to be like. This led to further prodding revealing the first details on raiding and multiple-party events. Every time Jack zigged, iTZKooPA zagged for more. Guilds, the endgame PvP/PvE zone of Gauntlgrym, and premium classes are all on the docket after the cut.
Player HiBes and iTZKooPA took a shot in the dark and teamed up to see if they could play against or with HiRezBart during this afternoon’s SMITE stream. The dynamic duo, as seen in a previous consistently losing stream with HiRezDuke, succeeded where so many others have failed. Teamed with HiRezBart playing Artemis, iTZKooPA glass cannoned with Anubis and HiBes went Sir Ganks Alot Loki (that needs to be a skin btw).
Do they win? Will HiBes be banned? Did a Kali 2013 Convention Skin get given away?! You’ll have to watch to find out!
Above you have the official Lore Hound Twitch TV stream. After the cut you can jump to 1:12:00 in the SmiteGame stream to see Bart’s take on the madness. Continue Reading
It’s not. It’s actually Todd Harris, the COO of Hi-Rez Studios, discussing a little project the company calls SMITE. Lore Hound has been following the game. Quite closely. Eerily close in fact. We do the “I have candy, get in the van” schtick for you. To get you all the juicy details on the god-based MOBA. We’re putting on the facade to get your questions answered!
There’s numerous benefits to being such creeps. First off, plenty of time with HiRezBart. We’re forced to play an enjoyable MOBA, learning the ropes in the process. And there’s the occasional preview, interview or charity event to boot.
Todd and iTZKooPA discuss the ongoing beta process of SMITE, including the miss of the Focus mechanic, how the community has guided the title’s design and when to expect the full game. Hit the jump for the latest and greatest interview with Hi-Rez Studios.
Interested in PvP or eSports? Be sure to view the other Hi-Rez interview on those very topics.
Bonus, these meet and greets allow us to have a ton of convention skins, like the one hidden somewhere on this post! Continue Reading
There are independent companies and then there is Red 5 Studios. The developer behind the third-person MMO shooter FireFall has managed to gain hundreds of millions of dollars in funding while keeping to itself. After a third massive overhaul to the title, FireFall is nearly the big time. During PAX East, the company had a little more to showcase besides its freshman entry and its latest content. The new television-level production of gamer and nerd culture coming from Stage5TV.
FireFall’s Lead Designer Scott Youngblood hung around after the announcement to speak with Lore Hound and explain why now, what’s to be offered and how Red 5 Studios can benefit. The move to support independent developers and the gaming community speaks well to Red 5’s previous efforts, such as the founding of League for Gamers.
The announcement of The Elder Scrolls Online was a disparaging one. Some fans salivated, barely containing their excitement at taking the open-world single-player adventure to the massive multiplayer realm. Others felt it was a cash in, using the name and universe to create a watered down experience. Either way, the new was huge.
ZeniMax Online has been slowly coming out of its shell revealing morsels of juicy information. Being an expert in shells, iTZKooPA corned Nick Konkle in a back alley. The Lead Combat Designer goes into his field of expertise, including discussing the relative need a “holy trinity” grouping, the rotationless combat style and dungeons.
“If you wanna do your crazy builds…we love em.”
Konkle even hangs around to answer a few community questions, including the presence of guilds, such as the Thieves Guild, the characters role in them and numerous other lore topics. Hit the jump for details covering a wide range of The Elder Scrolls Online topics.
Growing pains, they suck. For human males it tends to be the rapid elongation of bones that brings physical agony, while a changing voice brings emotional distress. Meanwhile another part of the anatomy will inevitably lose its battle with gravity. Growing pains, anything capable of maturing has the risk of such difficulty. Hi-Rez Studios, the creator of Global Agenda, SMITE and Tribes: Ascend, has hit them not once, but twice.
Initially a planned subscription game, Global Agenda didn’t live up to the company’s standards for a subscription game so it became F2P. The conversion success led to the company joining the ranks of companies focusing on the F2P model. Just recently the company announced a single-purchase option for SMITE and Tribes: Ascend based on consumer demand making it borderline retail.
Todd Harris, COO of Hi-Rez Studios, chalks it up to a change in focus. Delivering core PvP experiences under a multitude of gameplay options and tight-knit communities. That’s exactly what he and iTZKooPA discuss in their latest interview. Continue Reading
Basically, are you of the Lannister mentality or the steadfast honor of a Stark?
Be forewarned, the interviewer of this video is an immense nerd. An avid reader of all literature and avid player of nearly any video game, platform agnostic, the nerd reached his maximum threshold at the combination of a video game meshing MMOG and strategy elements with the deep, character driven universe of the A Song of Fire and Ice series (Game of Thrones to the HBO nuts).
To say “That escalated quickly” would be an understatement of iTZKooPA’s unbridled excitement.
Upon a less-than-professional recovery, Product Manager Scott Triola begins the arduous task of selling a Facebook game to a serial MMO player. Diving into the connected story, deep RPG components including skill trees and moral choices and city-building aspects are sure to draw in gamers. While a deep connection to the on-going HBO series, including weekly updates as Season 3 progresses, should sell those purely interested in consuming everything and anything Game of Thrones.
Hit the jump for the full interview complete with in-game screens, concept art and a camera angle that makes the talking heads appear to be giants from beyond The Wall. Continue Reading
During our PAX East 2013 interview, Jack Emmert let us in on a secret. That Neverwinter, the company’s action-oriented MMORPG set in the Dungeon & Dragons universe, would be heading to open beta very soon. Unlike some other developers out there it appears that Cryptic Studios wasn’t leading on gamers. Cryptic Studios and Perfect World Entertainment announced early today that Neverwinter will move to its open beta testing phase on April 30.
