SMITE Introduces Ullr – The Glorious One

Posted by on March 23, 2014 - No Comments »

Well, isn’t that an aptly timed release of the latest deity for the god-based MOBA SMITE. Following the recent unveiling of Sylla, Hi-Rez Studios has patch in Ullr – The Glorious One. Hailing from the Norse pantheon, Ullr is the nordic version of Artemis, the pantheon’s Hunter deity. The stance-based Ullr is another ranged physical character that features high sustainability, making him far less squishy than his Greek counterpart.

The latest patch contains something unheard of in SMITE, potentially by any MOBA, at least by my ears. Hi-Rez Studios has refunded any player that purchased the Nightmare skin for Hades. The 400 Gem purchase has become his default skin – with updates to the Legendary and Golden skins to reflect this – yet not removed from the game. Any incoming player can purchase the Classic skin. Anyone with Hades is grandfathered in.

Aphrodite received a 3D model overhaul. Still as sexy as ever. Meanwhile Nemesis received the Golden treatment. In what could be the final patch before next week’s launch tournament, Hi-Rez Studios focused its efforts on small balance changes, a lot of General updates and a variety of bug fixes.

Full patch notes after the cut. Oddly, the team must be quite busy, as there was no God Reveal video with the patch notes. Read more…

Dead Island: Epidemic Gets Iterative in Beta

Posted by on March 17, 2014 - No Comments »

The development of MMOGs is not a cheap, quick ordeal. Just ask the folks at Trion Worlds and the development hell that is becoming End of Nations. Meanwhile, the MOBA genre has seen an explosion of interest during the decline of its cousin. Dead Island: Epidemic, the MOBA version of the zombie-filled indie darling Dead Island is one of those titles.

The team at Deep Silver is going to great lengths to ensure that battles are fun, balanced and eventful. To ensure this happens for live players, the company is taking beta testing down an interesting road. Beginning later this week, DI:E, which this blogger just realized spells die, will begin Weapons Weekly.

For the next three weeks players will see their progress reset and begun anew. Week one will focus on feedback for a Workbench level 4, (crafted) Tier 4 weapons, three Armored Characters, and 75,000 Character Points. From there, it’s up to players to generate tons of data and feedback. Each following week will bump the tier to the next level.

Weapons Weekly begins Thursday, March 20 and continues for three weeks. Can’t wait to see the from players and the information from the mined data. Perhaps we’ll get our hands on it to compare if the theorycrafting was correct…?

On the Shores of Lanfar: Therian Sage Interview with Falkarma

Posted by on March 13, 2014 - 8 Comments »

therianlanfarWhen I had a chance to sit down for a Q&A with Virtys about the Therian Saga the last time, I hoped I’d be able to catch them again soon. It looks like soon has come more quickly than I’d expected! The translations of the first expansion has finished and is slated for release tomorrow, so naturally I had a lot more questions to ask! As luck would have it, I was able to catch Francois Desrosiers, known in game as Falkarma, and get a few more answered.

One of these days I need to sit down and write up a more detailed review, now that I have spent more time in the game I can speak a little more intelligently about its depth. There really does seem like there’s no end to this game – the next land area is nearly here and I haven’t even scratched the starting one yet!

But you’re not really here to listen to me talk, so let’s move on with the show…

Read more…

End of Nations Development Indeed On Hold

Posted by on March 10, 2014 - No Comments »

Once MMORTS darling of new kid on the block Trion Worlds, End of Nations hasn’t seen much, if any, positive movement since it returned to alpha development as a newly-christened MOBA. Some nine months later after repeated shake-ups at the company, it’s acknowledged that development for the MOBA has stalled.

Confirmed via a statement sent to Polygon, the company is focusing on other products. So much so that the official website for EoN is down and any mention of the title as an upcoming PC game has been removed from the product page. The last update to the official Facebook page came a few weeks after the genre-morphing announcement in July 2013.

“As we informed EON’s community last fall, internal development on End of Nations was put on hold in late 2013 while we evaluated potential paths forward for the title,” the statement reads. These options include Defiance, Rift, Trove, ArchAge and “projects that we will be revealing soon.”

Neverwinter Heading into Icewind Dale (Video)

Posted by on March 6, 2014 - No Comments »

If you’ve been a PC gamer for quite some time then the idea of a digital interpretation of Icewind Dale isn’t anything new. However, the upcoming digital expansion, aka Module 3 of Neverwinter, will be the first time that its been in the MMORPG genre and the action-oriented design no less. Cryptic Studios and Perfect World Entertainment will be releasing  Module 3: Curse of Icewind Dale to its F2P community in late spring 2014.

No matter your favorite gameplay in Neverwinter, the developer looks to have you covered. PvE gamers will numerous new zones and a completely new campaign focused on the people of Caer-Konig. If you’re more into stabbing your own ilk, the developer promises to “bring completely different ways to PvP” in Module 3.

More minor points include the typical itemization changes, new bosses, heroic encounters and introduction to Icewind Dale-based factions. Not so minor, the introduction of a new Hunter Ranger Paragon path and post-level-60 advancement. In the latter, experience will accumulate even at level cap, offering the chance to continue earning awards.
Hit the jump for the official reveal trailer. Read more…

SMITE Welcomes Scylla – Horror of the Deep (Video)

Posted by on March 5, 2014 - No Comments »

The latest god to join the round of playable characters in SMITE hails from the depths of the ocean. Unlike the Chinese river God He Bo, this Greek God terrorized generations of sailors with her childlike laughter as long dog-headed tentacles reduced massive ships to splinters of drift wood.

Scylla is a ranged mage focusing on dealing some of the best area damage in Hi-Rez Studios’ god-themed MOBA. Sylla’s passive is one of the more unique in the game, granting abilities a new effect when they’ve reached the level cap. We’re not talking a shorter cooldown or more damage, but the addition of aspects like two more enemies being hit by Sic ‘Em at max level.

Alongside this ancient Ursula, comes Golden Geb, Space Monkey Hun Batz and the 2014 Convention skin, Guan Yu. Itemization has been reorganized into a revamped tree structure. While the presentation is different, the final costs of Tier 3 items remain largely the same.

Hit the jump for the full patch notes and God Reveal video.   Read more…

Royal Revolt II Now Available on iOS, Android in Beta

Posted by on March 4, 2014 - No Comments »

Your first thoughts are likely something along the lines of “Isn’t this a leading MMO-focused blog?” And you’d be correct in asking yourself that. What you likely didn’t know, unless you’re following me closely on Twitter, is that I actually contributed to Royal Revolt II from keen games. Yeap, this headline means I can +1 to my “Shipped Games” list adding my first completely mobile-based title.

Now, I’m not saying I wrote code, created art or designed anything of the fantastic reverse Tower Defense title. Nope, I simply helped localize the game and contributed to the copy. So every time you see the helpful Clippy-style tutorial pop up and drop some knowledge on you or capture some flavor text with those peepers of your, that’d be me.

So do me a favor, head over to iTunes and fire it up. Let me know what you think of the title in the iTunes review and tell em LoreHound sent you.

Read more…

LoreHound Exclusive: Therian Saga Interview

Posted by on March 3, 2014 - 3 Comments »

I recently had the opportunity to play the Therian Saga, a browser-based asynchronous game released by indie game studio Virtys. I’m still quite enjoying it, as you might have expected from my earlier review. It is indeed proving to be as rich and complex as I’d had the impression it was, and even better – it brings back the feeling of accomplishment that games seem to have lost of recent years. I managed to do something last night that I’d been struggling with, and I was so excited I jumped up out of my chair and pumped my fists in the air. I think I even yelled out Oh yeah!!!! in a very undignified manner.

So I’m excited to have been able to pin the guys from Virtys down for a few questions and answers. Hopefully I can pin them down again for more in depth questions! I’m dying to know more about the skills. The more I play this game and learn about it, the more I want to know more… Read more…