SMITE Revamps He Bo, Nerfs God of Bees (Video)

Posted by on November 13, 2013 - No Comments »

The latest weekly SMITE patch has resulted in a severe nerf to the God of Bees, known by Maya lore fans as Ah Muzen Cab. This was as expected after reading the initial God Reveal post. The god has had most of his skills nerfed, including a serious hotfix to his Stinger ult over the weekend. No other god has received the same attention during this week’s patch.

But, as I explained briefly, a nerf wasn’t at all unexpected. What wasn’t was the latest artistic revamp to one of the original gods for the SMITE pantheon, He Bo. The Old Man and the Sea-style look has been thrown out. In its place is The Young Buck and the River. His lore hasn’t change, but he’s quite a bit more handsome. Another fix from new partner Tencent? Certainly not as drastic.

Full notes and the latest trailer after the patch.

Read more…

WildStar Unveils the Esper Healer/DPS Class (Video)

Posted by on November 13, 2013 - No Comments »

Those of you that have been following our coverage of WildStar, the upcoming hardcore slanted MMORPG from Carbine Studios, tend to await Hump Day. That’s because you know that there may be a bit of tasty news released for the company’s long-running WildStar Wednesday marketing campaign. It isn’t all noteworthy but today’s video trailer definitely is.

The company unveiled the Esper class to all those with functional eyes and ears. Labeled as “a mash-up between Professor X and the Green Lantern” those playing an Esper character can expect to wield flashy, telekinetic powers. The DevSpeak video showcases spyblade, that classes light armor and use of powerful illusions.

Don’t take our written word for it though. You can view the informative and insightful video after the cut. As a healer or DPS class, the Espar seems right up my alley. Want more on the game’s other classes? Read more…

Everquest Next Landmark Livestream

Posted by on November 13, 2013 - No Comments »

Founder’s Packs have gone on sale, but there are still many questions left to be asked about the alpha and beta process! Join Colette “Dexella” Murphy (Community Manager), Dave Georgeson (Director of Development) and Terry Michaels (Senior Producer) later today to learn more about the three packs and the alpha and betas! There’s even still time to submit specific questions, if you have any. To ask a question, simply send a tweet to @everquest_next or @eqnlandmark. You can also make inquiries on the Official Forums or in the Twitch chat during the EQNL Alpha/Beta Livestream.

The livestream is tonight, Wednesday, November 13, 2013 – 4:00PM Pacific Time, on the Everquest Next Twitch Channel. Read more…

Everquest Next Roundtable: Death Penalties

Posted by on November 12, 2013 - 1 Comment »

Death Penalties: I love them. The harsher, the better, so far as I’m concerned. I want a tough, challenging game, and death penalties are what encourage people to actually learn how to play their characters and the game. With greater risk comes greater reward, and death penalties are a key part of what entails risk in MMOs. In all the recent games I’ve played, death penalties have been such a joke that I always end up using death as a transportation system – and from my point of view, once you’re at that point, why even bother having them?

In this week’s EQN Round Table, Michael Mann discusses death penalties in EQN, and opens the door for feedback. Sadly, he’s put in provisos that deny my general want for what the penalties for dying should be, but it’s still an interesting question even so! I think I can ponder with his guidelines – the big one being a lack of character losing power – in mind. Read more…

Asgard Introduced to Marvel Heroes, Loki Playable (Video)

Posted by on November 12, 2013 - No Comments »

Sticking to his “unofficial” declaration that Marvel Heroes v2.0 would be out around the time of the second Thor movie, David Brevik and the team at Gazillion Entertainment have made good. Late last week, the company hit the servers with content patch v2.0, the largest to date. In addition to the new Asgard zone and the God of Mischief Loki, the patch opens additional zones, missions, enemy types and costumes.

Effectively a digital expansion, v2.0 will be fully accessible after an in-game event to unlock the Bitfrost Bridge into Asgard. Doing so will grant access to Norway, and, eventually, the new player hub of Odin’s Palace. Last, but not least, players can now select from nine super personas to play from out of the gate, up from five.

Full patch notes available here with additional media for Chapter 9 after the cut.

Update: Now with the just-released trailer! Read more…

Everquest Next: Landmark Founder’s Packs Available

Posted by on November 11, 2013 - No Comments »

It’s the moment I’ve been waiting for …

Well, ok, the moment before the moment I’ve been waiting for… or maybe the moment before the moment before the moment, hah! I’m so excited I’m tripping over myself, so let’s get to the details!

But it’s time to pick up an Everquest Next: Landmark Founder’s Pack! As has become the norm with free-to-play Founder’s Packs, there are three levels; Settler, Explorer and Trailblazer, each with different entry prices and varying levels of perks. Read more…

What’s All The Buzz About SMITE’s Latest God Reveal

Posted by on November 7, 2013 - No Comments »

Remember when Nintendo revealed that Mario’s newest power up would be a bee costume from a bumblebee-patterned mushroom? Well, Hi-Rez Studios may have just one upped that announcement with the reveal of Ah Muzen Cab, the God of Bees.

Playable as part of this week’s patch, Ah Muzen Cab fills the role of a dealing physical fighter with high crowd control, great sustainability and support capabilities. Wielding an awesome DoT Bees! passive, that applies to opposing members through his moves and general beehive defense mechanisms, Ah Muzen Cab sounds overpowered in his current iteration.

In addition to the buzzworthy god reveal, the patch brings new life to the All Random, All Mid gameplay style. The Asgardian map used in the game mode has been overhauled, fitting in with the renewed artstyle seen in other modes like Arena. The two sides of the beginnings of Ragnarok are now more distinct, featuring Hel and Odin leading opposing forces. There’s also a new soundtrack to the battlefield.

Artemis and Ao Kuang (Au Kuang) now have golden skins and Ah Muzen Cab is wrapped up with a special Sting alternate. Other changes include a buff to magical basic damage, more jump animations, and a variety of small tweaks to other gods. Full patch notes after the cut, but there were not any notable buffs or nerfs this time around.

Read more…

Lore Hound at BlizzCon 2013

Posted by on November 7, 2013 - No Comments »

Oh, yes. Definitely, yes. After a two year hiatus since the Mists of Pandaria reveal for World of Warcraft we’ll definitely be at BlizzCon 2013. The reveals, the panels, the cosplay, the debauchery and all the camaraderie, we’ll be there. We’ll be there to cover as much as we possibly can over the two-day celebration of everything Blizzard Entertainment. There’s so much going on at Blizzard Entertainment and major shifts in the industry that BlizzCon 2013 could be the most interesting yet.

Warlords of Draenor is almost guaranteed as the next WoW expansion, but it could go an unexpected way as far as lore is concerned. Blizzard’s own MOBA, Heroes of the Storm, aka Blizzard All-Stars (et. al.), will likely be there (again). You better believe we’ll have more on Diablo III and its upcoming expansion. Not to mention the impending shutdown of the divisive auction house. StarCraft II, well, it’ll probably just be more of the heart-pounding world championship action instead of reveals. Not to mention that Hearthstone card game dealie.

Regardless, we’re planning on doing everything in our power to cover the convention. Should the technology gods – and Blizzard – allow, you can stay tuned to the Lore Hound Twitter account for live blogged panels and general correspondence. Naturally, upon our return we’ll dump the videos, interviews and any other motion picture content to the YouTube channel.