While at PAX Prime ’10, I had the pleasure of getting in on interviews with up-coming gaming hotshots such as Nexon’s Vindictus. I mentioned in a previous post that I had received a beta slot, and I can promise you, I’m using it.

I knew very, very little first walking into the executive suite at the Grand Hyatt in Seattle. Apart from the Red Wolf Hat that was so famous from the Vindictus closed Beta, I knew nothing.

Loading onto the demo, only two types of characters were available. After choosing the badass melee, I logged into the LAN with two others to run the PvE content that Nexon was showcasing. It is amazing. Words cannot describe the best F2P MMO that I’ve seen yet. The graphics are stunning. Like I mentioned on my Patch 4.0.1 PTR post, this post has some of the best graphics, story, and action that I would say is comparable to Dragon Age and Final Fantasy — and it’s right here in this free game.

Everything is destructible. I believe we can thank Lucas Arts’ Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for finding great, creative uses for the Havok and DMM (Digital Molecular Matter) engines that I see influencing the gameplay in Vindictus.  Nexon uses Valve’s Source engine to create the physics for Vindictus.  An engine that allows the MMORPG to possess a “brutal elegance.” With a description like that, it’s self explanatory that it is epic.

I mean, who doesn’t like running around, slashing at wooden beams just to watch them splinter and break?

Continue on for some exquisite video footage to pump you up.

First, take a look at the cinematic trailer.

And now, click through for a video that looks at the basic lore that fuels the game.
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Game developers sure know how to stir up a community.  All a company has to do to get its already excitable fanbase to froth at the mouth, come out at weird hours and basically act rabid, is to announce major changes to combat.  Even if the changes are meant to correct combat issues like responsiveness and consistency, as in the case of Fallen Earth, the general population will be shocked into rage or unbreakable silence at hearing the news.

iTZKooPA brought up the hot button issue as part of his PAX Prime 2010 powwow with Marie Croall, Senior Game Design for Fallen Earth.  She revealed that the combat changes began back in the Blood Sports patch, although unannounced.  Icarus will start to drastically alter combat as we know it in patch v1.7.  In this video, Croall and iTZKooPA also discuss the just-started anniversary festivities, further character customization, Progress Towns, the just released Premium Mobile Application and more.

As Blizzard announced back at BlizzCon ’09, Battle.net is seeing updates as it moves to Battle.net 2.0.

Patch 3.3.5 brought us Real ID, the new way to connect with close friends in-game.

And now, Blizzard just announced new changes that will do away with anonymity on the official forums as Battle.net 2.0 closes in on its launch. Highlights are posted in bold.

Battle.net Update: Upcoming Changes to the Forums

Recently, we introduced our new Real ID feature – http://www.battle.net/realid/ , a new way to stay connected with your friends on the new Battle.net. Today, we wanted to give you a heads up about our plans for Real ID on our official forums, discuss the design philosophy behind the changes we’re making, and give you a first look at some of the new features we’re adding to the forums to help improve the quality of conversations and make the forums an even more enjoyable place for players to visit.

The first and most significant change is that in the near future, anyone posting or replying to a post on official Blizzard forums will be doing so using their Real ID — that is, their real-life first and last name — with the option to also display the name of their primary in-game character alongside it. These changes will go into effect on all StarCraft II forums with the launch of the new community site prior to the July 27 release of the game, with the World of Warcraft site and forums following suit near the launch of Cataclysm. Certain classic forums, including the classic Battle.net forums, will remain unchanged.

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