Posts Tagged ‘lore’

Global Agenda Fiction – In Your Nearest Dome City

5 May 2011 | No Comments » | Ronix

EVE Online, probably the most visible sci-fi/futuristic MMO out there, has always benefited from the attention of gaming journalists and bloggers that are attracted to the various shenanigans going on in space. Needless to say, the actions of players are supported and granted additional meaning when you consider the cold, harsh universe that EVE has developed thanks to a successful combination of lore and game mechanics. This is further extended with the recent re-introduction of live events that rely on the same mix of lore and gameplay in order to engage players on a deeper level.

So, it is quite sad to see that other games in the genre, such as Global Agenda and Perpetuum, haven’t had the opportunity to devote resources for proper storytelling just yet. The lore of these games is largely static and only serves as a backdrop for the actions of users. The situation is somewhat remedied when you consider the various fiction submitted by fans. Set in the same world that players know and inhabit, these stories help develop the universe of a beloved game further.

Today, I’d like to give you a teaser for a story I wrote back in the beta days of Global Agenda. It was a competition created by fans for fans, and most of us were eager to participate. My entry started off as a short story that followed the template given to us – the Commonwealth has designed a powerful mech, the construction of which could endanger the livelihood of nearby agencies. However, the narrative quickly went off in a direction I never planned for it. The end-result was quite different to what I originally expected. Continue Reading

The Novel Post: Vol’jin:The Judgment Review

28 April 2011 | 2 Comments » | pixiestixy

This review of Vol’jin: The Judgment by Brian Kindregan is of the spoiler-free variety.

I’ve always been a fan of the Darkspear Trolls, a bond that was strengthened further late in Wrath of the Lich King, in Patch 3.3.5 when Horde players got to participate in an epic event leading to Zalazane’s Fall and the retaking of Echo Isles.

But long before then, before Zalazane went crazy with power and betrayed his people, he and Vol’jin — who would eventually become Darkspear Cheiftan — were friends setting out on a journey to First Home. Their aim: to convene with the voodoo Loa spirits and receive judgment on their worth to become Shadow Hunters.

Blizzard recently posted Vol’jin: The Judgment as the newest edition of its ongoing Leaders series of short stories. At 22-pages long (in PDF format), it’s a quick read that gives some great, although tragic, context to how both Vol’jin and Zalazane were aimed down their respective paths. Personally, I prefer the web version over the PDF for the illustrations and easy-to-read colors — pick your pleasure. It’s no novel, but it is a good extension to the lore and fits well into our The Novel Post heading.

Continue Reading

WoW Friends: The Archetypes We Meet Along the Way

26 April 2011 | 15 Comments » | Kershocker

This is the best screenshot ever.

I’ve been playing World of Warcraft for almost two years now, and it has been a blast. I really enjoy playing this game — Questing, Dungeons, Rated BGs Raids — you name it!

Blizzard has created an amazing game, but it also has a lot to do with the players who populate Azeroth. World of Warcraft wouldn’t be as fun as it is if we hadn’t made a few friends during our journey. This post is dedicated to the ones who have stuck with me during my various adventures and made this experience much more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise.

Readers, you may not know these people, but the following descriptions will probably remind you of someone you do — whether in WoW or another MMO. Names have been removed to protect the innocent!

1.- The Alt-aholic:

Good god. He has 6 characters at level 85. You think that’s the bad part? No, it is not. I think 4 out of those 6 characters are more geared than my main.

As soon as a new character hits 85, there’s another one waiting in line. I really have a good time leveling new toons with him, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. He levels so fast I usually end up joining him with 3 different characters just to catch up. I go to sleep when we’re both 29 and the next day he’s 38, so I’m forced to now join him with my level 40 character.

I’m still better than him though, no matter what people say.

2.- The Old-schooler:

Do you know what happened in patch 1.21? No? Huh, he does. Can’t remember the hotfixes applied on October 22nd, 2009? Well, he can.

Joined all the way back in Vanilla, became a hardcore raider during TBC and killed the Lich King in Icecrown Citadel. He’s like a WoW encyclopedia, but better. He’s not only a really good player, he’s also an incredible friend.

Unfortunately, he quit WoW a few months ago to focus more on his education, but not before leveling a Worgen from 1 to 85 in 4 days. US 1st? Maybe!

3.- The Cool Cat:

You saw this one coming, didn’t you? There’s always a Cool Cat in the guild.

I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who doesn’t like hanging out with him. If I’m not wrong, he was the first one who had a conversation with me on Ventrilo, even when my English was far from being fluid. He’s always willing to help you in anything you may be having issues with, both in-game and IRL.

Unfortunately, I don’t raid with him anymore, but I’m really looking forward to doing it again. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a blast! Meanwhile, I guess we’ll just play Magicka.

What else can I say about him? Oh yeah, he enjoys wasting time flying around Stormwind. Continue Reading

Azeroth’s Beauty Contest: Top 10 Hottest WoW Characters (Part 2)

22 April 2011 | 6 Comments » | pixiestixy

Here we are, back with the continuation of Azeroth’s Beauty Contest. Last time, we revealed our #10 to #6 picks for the Hottest WoW Characters, and now were back for the top 5. As with last time, we’re aiming to keep this conversation as classy as we can, given the subject. Now onward to the winners:

5. Jaina Proudmoore –Stong, independent, beautiful, not to mention being one of the most powerful sorceresses in all of Azeroth, it’s no surprise that Jaina claims a spot on the list.

Perhaps what makes her even more appealing is her strong belief in peace and welcoming nature to all who share that vision. She dreams of uniting the forces of both the Horde and the Alliance, and has at certain times in the past succeeded in that mission when working toward a common goal or in aiming to kill a shared enemy. Too bad she has poor taste in men.

At least WoW developers have seen it fit to continue to update her character model to best show off her womanly assets.

4. Sylvanas Windrunner — In both life and undeath, Sylvanas remains one of the most dangerously lovely characters in the World of Warcraft universe. A military genius, she was Ranger-General of Silvermoon before getting murdered at the hand of Arthas and then being brought back as one of his minions.

But she fought back and regained her free will, even leading the Forsaken in their fight against the Scourge. I find it an interesting twist of fate that both her and the #5 hottie have had their futures shaped largely by the next one up on the list…

Continue Reading

The Novel Post: StarCraft II: Colossus

15 April 2011 | 1 Comment » | iTZKooPA

Imma firin' mah lazer!

This review of StarCraft II: Colossus is of the spoiler-free variety.

Valerie Watrous throws readers in to the thick of the on-going galactic war that is the StarCraft universe. Watrous spends no time introducing us to the small group of protoss secreting their way through zerg space at the opening. It’s assumed that readers know the background of the noble race and its chitinous enemy. In lieu of introductions, the setting is painted, inducing instant suspense and immersion. The zerg is already on top of the tiny, cloaked ship that is on its way to awaken the sleeping colossi, a unit capable of untold destruction.

After narrowly escaping the clutches of the zerg, the break in action allows for members of the crew to interact, giving readers insight to the timeline, purpose of the mission and character progression. The small, four-person crew is lead by Aldrion, the mission’s leader and battle-hardened veteran. Telbrus, his second in command that watched Aiur burn, blames the Dark Templar for not saving the race’s homeworld. Darsiris, a rookie, rounds out the three exiled Aiur protoss. Zoraya, the ship’s skilled pilot, is the only Dark Templar crew member.

Hit the jump to see if the free web lore is worth your time. Continue Reading

Azeroth’s Beauty Contest: Top 10 Hottest WoW Characters (Part 1)

14 April 2011 | 5 Comments » | pixiestixy

A while back, I undertook the great burden of documenting who I thought fall into the category of Top 10 Ugliest Creatures in WoW. You all seemed to enjoy it.

I’ve been hesitating to flip that coin and rate the top 10 hottest characters. Mostly because that phrase alone leaves me with the feeling that trashyness is about to ensue. But fear not, dear readers! Yes, the hotness is based mostly on appearances, but we’ll also explore a little bit of lore that goes along to emphasize “inner beauty.” Let’s try to keep this little beauty pageant of sorts classy.

And as an FYI to any of you who happened across this site and are not familiar with my writing — yes, I am a girl. And while female hotness (in my opinion) greatly outweighs male hotness in World of Warcraft, it is not on its own. Both sexes are proudly represented in this fun little list. So let’s get on to the judging!

10. Blood-Queen Lana’thel – Hers is a story of battle and tragedy fueled by the wish of revenge against the scourge who had destroyed her homeland. While still a blood elf, Lana’thel came across the powerful blade, Quel’Delar, and sought to use it to strike against the Lich King. But all who stood against the Lich King fell, and Lana’thel was no exception.

She was, however, one of those chosen to serve the Lich King in undeath. So she became blood-queen of the San’layn, and she carried out these duties in Icecrown obediently. But a part of her remembered her past life and grew maddened — perhaps even a bit insane — leading her to destroy Quel’Delar and scatter its fractured pieces far and wide.

While certainly not one of the greatest heroes of her race, Lana’thel’s complexity contributes to her beauty, even in undeath.

9. Garona Halforcen –Another beautifully complicated character, Garona herself has even been confused at times about her heritage. As a half-orc, half-dranei assassin, Garona had for much of her life believed that she was half-human. But while raised among orcs, she was not accepted as one because of her small frame and was even thought to be ugly and deformed. Thankfully, we know better.

Although Garona may have lacked respect — even self-respect — she masterfully learned to take care of herself and as a result excelled in other areas, which others sought to take advantage of. An assassin and master spy, she became emissary to Medivh and even had his son before discovering his betrayal. She is perhaps most known for reluctantly carrying out orders to assassinate King Llane Wrynn, who also was her trusted friend.

She may be confused at times, but Garona certainly never lacks passion, which is part of what brings that sexy spark of mischief to her appearance. Continue Reading

When Simply Leveling Isn’t Enough

13 April 2011 | 1 Comment » | pixiestixy

I thought my attempts at Loremaster were hard enough — how about the anti-Loremaster? Recently, I’ve been coming across a bunch of stories of patient and creative WoW players who have set crazy goals for themselves and reached them, against all odds.

Take Everbloom, for example, who posted her story on the official WoW forums of how she leveled to 85 without killing anything (mob, monster, critter, PvP or otherwise) and without (intentionally) completing any quests. After reaching level cap five days ago, her story has garnered her congratulations and even a little in-game fame. Here’s what she said of the experience:

Well I did it lol, it was certainly a different way of leveling, requires lots of patience, but I did get to see the whole game in a new light.

Being on the ground and sneaking around mining and herbing and eventually archaeology, going everywhere to get every single point of discovery xp that you can, really gives you a chance to see an amazing world up close and personal. I spent hours swimming around reefs and flying to the farthest reaches of the maps.

If you like to explore, and enjoy a challenge I really REALLY recommend this, I have been playing since day 1 on other characters and I even have an original Loremaster (you know, back when it was hard) and I saw so MANY new things with Everbloom that it really made it worthwhile for me to continue on with this character, and each level was a major achievement! Continue Reading

Lore, Dungeons & Loot: That’s All I Need

8 April 2011 | 2 Comments » | iTZKooPA
DDO: Tons of dungeons, good amount of loot, but light on the lore.

Amatera isn’t the only one going through an identity crisis. I, too, have become disenfranchised with World of Warcraft recently, a love of mine for almost seven straight years. I share his concerns with the direction of the title, especially the lore, which I’ve written about previously. The main reason I’ve taken a break is a mental block. You see, Kieron, the ferret I recently lost, will always be linked to WoW for me. The rugrat joined my life when WoW did, and she was a constant companion when I played. She even became known in my guild for her excited messages – running across the keyboard – and hitting my ‘2’ key, aka Ferret DPS. Since her death, I’ve been unable to login for more than a few moments.

Readers are aware that I’ve been dabbling in Rift, a title that’s largely the same. Its sameness has lead me to rethink why I play MMORPGs. What’s the hook, the features I require to remain loyal to a digital world? What is it about them that makes them a blackhole for my time? Why do I keep returning, sequestering myself in just a handful of worlds for dozens of hours a month when there’s an infinite amount of content outside these walls?

It came down to three simple, interconnected features (ranked in order of most to least important). Aspects of MMOG titles far and wide that together make for truly memorable experiences. Continue Reading