23 May 2013 | |
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: Isis, the Goddess of motherhood, fertility and magic, was one of the numerous pervasive gods in Egyptian mythology to crossover into later pantheons in the region. Adapted by the Greco-Roman world, she was worshipped as the ideal women, mother and wife. Like many of the old gods of the Nile region, the realms guarded by Isis changed dramatically over her reign.
Born of the union between Sky and Earth, Nut and Geb, Isis wed her brother Osiris. Their union bore Horus.
Isis’ most famous myth is not for the sibling union specifically, but for her life-giving properties. Set, the sister of both, plotted to kill Osiris by deception. The strategic Set had measured her brother the night before and offered an ornamented box to anyone that could fit inside. Osiris being the only capable, Set tested the fit by closing the lid, sealing Osiris inside. After placing himself in a now-coffin, Osiris and box was pitched into the Nile. The river didn’t do its task. Isis and Nephthys quickly found the box. Continue Reading
23 April 2013 | |
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: Ne Zha, or Nezha as his name is most commonly spelled, originally came to Chinese folklore as a Taoist protection deity in Buddhist mythology. The boy was born as such after gestating in his mother for three and a half years. Upon his unusual birth his father, a powerful military commander named Li Jing, assailed his son with his sword in fear of creating a demon. Unphased by the cut, Ne Zha sprang from the ball of flesh a boy grown, fully capable of talking and walking at birth. This would not be Li Jing’s last attempt on his son’s life.
Ne Zha is best known for his roles in the popular culture Chinese mythology of Investiture of the Gods and Journey to the West. It’s not his competition and later friendship with Sun Wukong, or conquering of the sea that gave Ne Zha his identity as a protector. It’s his work against the summons of Ao Kuang for boys and girls of his home province, Chentang Pass, that the Third Lotus Prince is held in such high esteem. After hearing that his minions had been defeated, Ao Kuang arranged a meeting with his family and that of Ne Zha. The embarrassed Dragon King threatened to flood the entirety of Chentang Pass. To save his family name and the people of his hometown Ne Zha committed suicide, returning his body to his parents. Continue Reading
18 April 2013 | |
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: *twang* Apollo, God of music, poetry, oracles, sun, medicine…let’s just go with art. He’s the God of Music et. al. No, that’s not correct either. Anyways, aside from being the god of plague, he was a fairly benevolent and talented individual. Born of Zeus and Leto, he came from the same seeds as his gamely twin sister Artemis. Given his ridiculous proficiency for mastering a vast array of topics, Apollo was a clever and complex individual routinely given different praises through the times of ancient Greece. Complex enough to maintain the same name and heritage for the Roman pantheon!
Be it with bow and arrow or his famed lyre given to him by Hermes, Apollo could turn the tides of war with a variety of resources. Early fame was brought to him when he killed Pytho, the earth-dragon of Delphi, after it was sent to end his mother’s life. Unphased by her minion’s failure, Hera sent the giant Tityos to finish the deal. Aided by Artemis, the pair once again saved their mother from certain death. Zeus then stepped in, casting Tityos to Tartarus for crows to feast on his liver. Continue Reading
16 April 2013 | |
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: Aphrodite, by all accounts, is incredibly attractive. The Greek goddess of love, procreation, beauty and pleasure is so desirable that the rest of her pantheon feared that godly rivalries for her hand would result in war. This is despite her being born a full adult from the mutilated genitals of Uranus. Ehem. Origin aside, her beauty resulted in an arranged marriage to Hephaestus, the ugly and deformed equivalent of the Roman smith Vulcan.
Being a deity in the Greek pantheon means such a social chain as marriage wouldn’t stop her from messing around. Aphrodite had the pick of any man she desired, gods and mortals alike. The rotating consorts caused as much strife as Zeus and the other leaders likely feared. For instance, her union with the violent God of War Ares bore Phobos and Deimos, the personifications of Fear and Terror that road to battle with their father. Continue Reading
28 March 2013 | |
iTZKooPA
Growing pains, they suck. For human males it tends to be the rapid elongation of bones that brings physical agony, while a changing voice brings emotional distress. Meanwhile another part of the anatomy will inevitably lose its battle with gravity. Growing pains, anything capable of maturing has the risk of such difficulty. Hi-Rez Studios, the creator of Global Agenda, SMITE and Tribes: Ascend, has hit them not once, but twice.
Initially a planned subscription game, Global Agenda didn’t live up to the company’s standards for a subscription game so it became F2P. The conversion success led to the company joining the ranks of companies focusing on the F2P model. Just recently the company announced a single-purchase option for SMITE and Tribes: Ascend based on consumer demand making it borderline retail.
Todd Harris, COO of Hi-Rez Studios, chalks it up to a change in focus. Delivering core PvP experiences under a multitude of gameplay options and tight-knit communities. That’s exactly what he and iTZKooPA discuss in their latest interview. Continue Reading
7 March 2013 | |
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: A product of Cronus and Rhea, Poseidon, along with his four siblings – Zeus, Hades, Demeter, Hestia and Hera – is one of the twelve major deities of the Greek pantheon. While Poseidon came from a relatively modest sized family, he did not subscribe to the same notion. The God of the Oceans spread his love from sea to shining sea, from his sister Demeter to a host of unknown consorts and a handful of male partners. The acts of the seafaring god left dozens of children in his wake, those born of normal, or in the case of Chrysaor, more supernatural ways.
Most of his lore involves chasing tail. Outside these tales, which can turn to the devious, he’s largely perceived as a “good” god. Yet, he has his faults, including being a part of Hera’s scheme to overthrow Zeus. The failed plot caused his brother to temporarily strip Poseidon of his power. During this time Poseidon toiled away constructing a giant wall for King Laomedon of Troy. Laomedon refused to pay the deity for his work winning the City of Troy a visit by a sea monster. Continue Reading
5 March 2013 | |
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: Neith is a complex goddess due to her age in ancient Egyptian mythology. An early god mentioned as far back as the First Dynasty, Neith was first known as the Goddess of War. Like the Greek Goddess of the Hunt, Artemis, Neith is routinely depicted with a bow, her weapon of choice. In later periods Neith’s name, meaning water, allowed her to take on a creationist role seeing her morph in the embodiment of primordial waters of creation. Water being highly valued and respected in Egypt. Later, her hieroglyphic use of a loom morphed the water aspects to that of one as a weaver of fates creating the world anew each day.
Not as well known to Western cultures as the likes of Ra or Anubis, Neith is the mother of the former and his brother Apep. In her later interpretation as the water goddess it was said that the “Nurse of Crocodiles” was the mother of Sobek, the father likely being Khnum, the god and source of the Nile. Continue Reading
12 February 2013 | |
iTZKooPA
Hi-Rez Studios announced yesterday that the company is planning to offer a new purchase option for its fast-paced first-person shooter Tribes: Ascend. Breaking from its previous statement of all free-to-play, made after Global Agenda failed to capture an appropriate-sized audience, Tribes: Ascend should be available “in the ballpark of other PC multiplayer shooters.”
The single purchase price point – likely between $30-50 – will award the purchaser with all classes, weapons and perks currently available. Everything besides cosmetic items. VIP Tribes players will receive an additional discount. Should all go according to plan, the new option will be made available this Friday, February 15 with the title’s latest content patch.
Hi-Rez Studios was quick to point out that the game will not change for F2P players. Additional maps will remain free. Essentially, should the grind be too hard and your wallet a little too heavy, you’ve a new option at your disposal.
Let the pay-to-win complaints begin!
