25 September 2012 | |
iTZKooPA
SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained is a column dedicated to introducing prospective players of SMITE to its massive back story of lore. From the Greek to Hindu, each week we’ll look at two characters from a major pantheon and provide a quick recap of their history and in what capacity their digital incarnation will represent on the field of Hi-Rez Studios’ upcoming MOBA.
Lore: In early Egyptian mythology, Anhur was a god of war worshipped by many in the area of Abydos. He’s depicted as a fearsome lion-headed humanoid marking his strength and power. His abilities are channeled through a deadly lance and his prowess is heralded by ancient Egyptian armies and royal warriors alike.
The son of Ra, Anhur and his sister Bastet defended their father during his journey across the sky. Consistently victorious against those that wished to do Ra harm, Anhur was given the title of Slayer of Enemies for dispatching Apep with his strategic insights.
Anhur’s name comes from the tale of his wife, Menhet, whom he captured to impress his father after the goddess spurned the Sun God. Upon actually meeting Menhet, Anhur fell in love and requested she become his wife when she was presented to Ra. The request was granted giving Anhur the meaning of “he who leads back the distant one.” Continue Reading
21 August 2012 | |
iTZKooPA
SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained is a column dedicated to introducing prospective players of SMITE to its massive back story of lore. From the Greek to Hindu, each week we’ll look at two characters from a major pantheon and provide a quick recap of their history and in what capacity their digital incarnation will represent on the field of Hi-Rez Studios’ upcoming MOBA.
Lore: As the God of Love in Roman mythology, Cupid is in charge of the happier moments in every mortal and deity’s life. Running the desire, affection and erotic love department, Cupid doles out his form of justice with the tip of an arrow. Suiting, as his parents are Venus, Goddess of Love, and Mars, God of War. Unlike the shaded morals of his pantheon, Cupid rarely had a dastardly side.
The diaper dandy is best known for inciting affection in others. Tales of his deeds indicate that the cherub was a notorious flirt, usually with the friendly nymphs, and mischievous. Ultimately, Cupid succumbed to his own talents when he went on a mission for his mother to ruin Psyche. Continue Reading
31 July 2012 | |
Pherephassa
TSW Addon Spotlight is a weekly series about addons in The Secret World. Every week I will examine an addon and discuss what it brings to the game.
I’ve said it before – I’m an addon junky. In every game that I play, if addons are possible, I can easily spend as much time – if not more – tweaking addons than I do actually playing. My first foray into addons was with Morrowind many years ago. I still remember something someone on the modding forums said back then – wait, you mean there’s a game beyond the construction set? I remember laughing as I read that, because it was so true. I did spend more time in the construction set than I spent actually playing. I’d love to spend as much time creating addons for The Secret World as I did for Morrowind, but unfortunately I’m inept when it comes to code. My mods have all been new clothing, heads, hairstyles, and quests. I’d love to design clothing for The Secret World, but most MMOs don’t allow user created art assets, and TSW is no different, so I am forced to focus on addons for the UI. Today’s Spotlight is all about the team experience.
Click the button below to read about Categorical’s Enhanced TeamGUI.
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24 July 2012 | |
iTZKooPA
SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained is a column dedicated to introducing prospective players of SMITE to its massive back story of lore. From the Greek to Hindu, each week we’ll look at two characters from a major pantheon and provide a quick recap of their history and in what capacity their digital incarnation will represent on the field of Hi-Rez Studios’ upcoming MOBA.
Lore: The legend of the just-revealed Bakasura is a rather simple one to consume. The great Asura was a pure antagonist to those around him, demanding his home city of Ekachakra to constantly supply him with obscene quantities of edibles. Upon delivery, Bakasura would greedily devour all that came to him, couriers included, earning him the title of the Great Devourer.
Hit the jump for the rest of the legend and how the hungry short stack should be played. Continue Reading
20 July 2012 | |
iTZKooPA
Q Entertainment announced that Ninety-Nine Nights Online won’t see its one year anniversary. The F2P hack-n-slash MMOG was released in Japan last December, but hasn’t gained much of a following there or much interest for an international version. As of yesterday, new registrations have been disabled and an end-of-life date of September 27 set.
Ninety-Nine Nights Online is the third title in the action hack-n-slash RPG franchise and was developed by UserJoy Technology. The title is based on one of the Xbox 360’s earliest hits – especially in Japan – Ninety-Nine Nights, which featured hundreds of enemies on the screen at any given moment. Heralded for its graphics and character designs, the title was quickly greenlit for a sequel before N3 Online became a reality.
N3 Online didn’t bring anything revolutionary to the table. The sidescrolling 2D title offers features like multiple job types, PvP and PvE. Even prior to its release, numerous alternatives have been made available by the likes of Nexon, Perfect World Entertainment and others. Dungeon Fighter, Vindictus, Dragon’s Nest and Rusty Hearts come to mind.
Hit the jump for a swansong image gallery. Continue Reading
12 July 2012 | |
iTZKooPA
SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained is a column dedicated to introducing prospective players of SMITE to its massive back story of lore. From the Greek to Hindu, each week we’ll look at two characters from a major pantheon and provide a quick recap of their history and in what capacity their digital incarnation will represent on the field of Hi-Rez Studios’ upcoming MOBA.
Lore: Ymir has two distinct and, at least partially, contradictory origin stories, both credited to Snorri Sturluson. In the earliest account, Ymir is a primeval being born from the venom of Élivágar. He lived a solitary life on Ginnungagap until he bore a male and female from his armpits. Not to be outdone, his legs spawned a six-headed being. Elsewhere on his person, the brothers Odin, Vili and Vé created the numerous realms from Ymir’s very being. His skin became Earth, his blood the ocean, his eyebrows became Midgard, land of mortals and on.
Continue Reading
10 July 2012 | |
iTZKooPA
SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained is a column dedicated to introducing prospective players of SMITE to its massive back story of lore. From the Greek to Hindu, each week we’ll look at two characters from a major pantheon and provide a quick recap of their history and in what capacity their digital incarnation will represent on the field of Hi-Rez Studios’ upcoming MOBA.
Lore: Zeus is one of the most well-known gods of any pantheon. The founding member of Olympus with his siblings – including older brother Hades – the God of the Sky and Thunder wrestled control of the heavens from the previous generation of Titans, including his father Cronus. His founding status and control of thunder and the sky awarded Zeus extreme power when the realms were divided between himself, Hades and Poseidon. Even those gods not descended from him respectfully call Zeus “Father.”
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6 July 2012 | |
Pherephassa
I always love it when games launch. I love eagerly awaiting the opening of servers, I love making new characters, I love those first few moments of a game, before people start throwing around requirements for accepting people into dungeon groups, before the very “best builds” have been worked out, before video guides to all the dungeons have been posted online, and quest spoilers are all over the internet. There’s something magical about learning a new game, although these days it seems that magic lasts a shorter and shorter length of time.
This week I’ve been immersing myself in The Secret World, and I’ll admit I’ve artificially prolonged that magic – I made a cabal just for myself and a few friends and have been completely ignoring the public chats. I ruined it this morning though, when I logged in to find none of my friends online. So I hopped into the general chat only to discover that there are people demanding anyone joining their dungeon group have gear that’s superior to the gear the dungeon drops. I’ve seen that in other games too, and once again I’m wondering – what’s the point in that? I’ve been slacking off playing way too much The Secret World, it was the 4th of July, and I’m off to attend a local convention this weekend, so this week has largely passed me by in a whirl. But it’s been a somewhat eventful week – two games were born, and a third has entered its death cycle. It’s always sad when a game dies, even if it’s not one I’ve played or enjoyed.
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