Posts Tagged ‘world of warplanes’

Exclusive: World of Warplanes Interview: Public Beta in June!

17 April 2012 | No Comments » | Mike

Wargaming.net’s next free-to-play MMO game is on its way and this time the guys take to the skies in World of Warplanes. CEO, Victor Kislyi takes some time to talk to iTZKooPA at PAX East 2012 about what players can expect when the game launches.

The big reveal was that World of Warplanes will be hitting public beta some time around E3, which is planned for June 5th. Victor states, “more of an open public kind of beta…E3 time, plus or minus a couple of weeks.” 

On the business side of it, we learn that WoWP will follow the same business model as World of Tanks, with little to no variation in it. This of course makes sense; don’t change something if it’s not broken.

The guys talk more about plane models, selection and maps sizes; again Wargaming.net is sticking with WoT’s 15 vs 15 player size maps.  As well as some of the combat and environmental aspects of the game.

Check out the full World of Warplanes interview below.

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The Upcoming MMOGs of 2012

30 December 2011 | 5 Comments » | LHStaff

It’s not quite over yet, but 2011 was not a banner year for the MMOG genre. There was no massive success, no breakaway hit. Players did receive their handful of expansions and new content patches, but with the exception of the just-released Star Wars: The Old Republic – a title which may become that massive success – most events were a blip on the radar.

Perhaps 2011 will be remembered not for its lack of breathtaking releases in the genre. No, no, the Year of the Rabbit may go down in history for a paradigm shift in the genre itself. Yeah, you guessed it, a continued aggressive shift to the free-to-play model.

What started with a last-ditch effort by Turbine Entertainment to save Dungeons & Dragons Online has continued to spread through the industry like wildfire. From dieing titles to titles that would have surely been paid-to-play years ago to upcoming AAA games, escapisms from every subgenre, every part of the world and catering to every type of game were released, entered beta or teased during the year. It’s getting to the point that drawing the line between what is an MMOG and what isn’t is becoming increasingly difficult.

Below you’ll find the titles that have us here at LoreHound.com the most excited. There’s a little bit of everything, AAA to F2P, MMORTS to MMORPG, casual to hardcore. An exhaustive list of expansions, content patches and releases? No, but the post is choke full of excitement, previews and information.

We’ll kick it off with the prediction for Star Wars: The Old Republic‘s seemingly bright future. More after the cut.

Star Wars: The Old Republic: BioWare has definitely set themselves on the right track with this game, going full blown into production. They have stated that they have a years worth of content already in back log before launch, giving them a year’s head start worth of content as they still work on more to come. Add to the fire the fact they’ve watched every MMO that was released in 2011, and took notes, along with everything the head megabeast, World of Warcraft, has done for the last 5 years. The game is only just over a week old (officially), and besides the hiccups with a launch of any new game, the game is going pretty solid with 1 million subscriptions already created on December 22nd (before people who got it for Christmas could subscribe).

Is the game perfect right now? No. Give it a few months, and all the kinks will be found and ironed out, with some new content. Yes, yes, that statement could be recycled for almost every MMOG release in modern history. That doesn’t make it any less true. The fully voiced story gives a very cinematic feel. Check out the Lore Cast Episode 5 in the coming days to hear how Mordil, Beararms, and perhaps a few others are feeling about the game.

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Why I am Excited for…

24 June 2011 | No Comments » | iTZKooPA

I have had numerous guilds collapse because of summer over the years. Vacations, school breaks, Honey Do lists, gardening, general desire to go outside, there are plenty of reasons one’s indoor entertainment may be curtailed during this time. Mine certainly has. Drastically.

No matter my current state of MMOG enjoyment, I still keep my ear to the ground (gotta write about something!). Trailers, cinematics, class reveals, screenshots, no matter the form of information, I gobble it up on a variety of titles. I continue to absorb information on each for very specific reasons.

Let me tell you them.

Guild Wars 2: ArenaNet’s second crack at the market is the closest thing to a WoW-a-like on this list. The game continues to draw me in with innovative ideas and iterations to last-generation MMOG tropes. Streaminlined questing, advanced public quests, fast-action combat, resurrections for all, a new, deep world. Each time I’ve seen the title at a convention there’s been a new feature that leaves me impressed.

TERA: TERA has been a joy to play. The world is unique with hardlined races, genders and classes. The combat is fast paced, dependent on intellect and positioning and flat out fun. Warfare is visceral enough to set hearts a pumpin’ and adrenaline a flowin’. The battles against the epic monsters, random mobs of enormous proportions and angry demeanors, are so enjoyable that it raiding isn’t even needed. I’d be as happy starfish in a clam shoal with a swath of dungeons as the endgame. The visual are absolutely stunning to boot.

Dragon Nest: Dragon Nest’s art scheme is rather deceiving. It’s not some quirky casual game. In fact, it’s quite hardcore, with much the same combat mechanics as TERA. TERA light, if you will. That fact, and its F2P business model, keep it on my radar. Not something that can be said for any other anime styled title.

World of Warplanes: World of Tanks is boatloads of fun. Boats that are full of Mauses (Mausi?). The new WoW (WoWp?) intrigues me on a variety of levels. Blowing crap up chief among them. Planes, well, they’re always fun. However, on a design level I am eagerly waiting for more details on its strategy and replayability. Much of the fun of WoT comes from the randomly chosen map, instantly devising a strategy for it and adopting to the terrain as the blitzkrieg rolls. Being in the air adds the z-axis, but I fail to see how it can remain as engrossing with the loss of environmental strategy.

E3 2011: Wargaming.net Announces World of Warplanes

8 June 2011 | 2 Comments » | iTZKooPA

Wargaming.net places players in tier-based battles for WoT. 1930s craft will not often fight superior 1950s craft, if WoW, as expected, follows the same formula.

Wargaming.net, creator of the recently launched and quite successful F2P World of Tanks MMOG, revealed that it plans on taking the winning formula to the sky. World of Warplanes will not only add a second WoW moniker to the MMOG players lexicon, but allow them to tear across the sky in scenarios from the 1930s to 1950s in era planes. The timeframe will not be lost on aviation fanatics, as the era was driven by rapid technological innovation thanks to numerous wars. Just like the timeframe used for WoT.

Other than the title being team-based, Wargaming.net hasn’t released many details at this point. It’s likely that WoW will feature a near-perfect balance of war simulation with traditional MMOG gameplay (thus, be nothing like the other WoW). Customizing vehicles with upgrades and technological skilltrees should make a return, as well as the ability to speed progress through RMT.

I am reservedly excited. Given the fact that maps will not be a major draw – terrain doesn’t affect strategy like it does for tanks – how will WoW reel us in? Unique capture-the-flag or defend-this-target scenarios? Driving, even a tank, is second nature to many people, will the additional of a third dimension relegate WoW to an even more niche status?

This blogger will be polishing his joystick, waiting for additional details, including a release date.

Who’s up for coining the moniker WoWp with me?