Many years ago, I had a friend who rarely actually bought anything he wanted. We would go out shopping, and he’d just peer in the shop windows and heave sighs heavy with yearning. At one point, I asked him why he never bought anything. He said he was enjoying the wanting. He said that few things ever actually measured up once he actually had them, so he was just enjoying the wanting of them. I think of that line a lot when it comes to betas. Betas are my favorite time during any game’s lifespan. In a beta, everything is mysterious and shiny, and there’s that new game smell. I’m still fresh on the trail of anticipation, and there’s possibility. Every game can be great, right up until I’ve actually played it and it’s set in stone.
And this week there’s been a lot of beta news from several games. I keep thinking about that friend of mine every time I find myself becoming gleefully excited about the upcoming Neverwinter betas, trying to slow myself down, because I know that no game can possibly live up to the magic that decades of playing pen and paper D&D have wrought. I’m thinking about all the amazing games I’ve played in, and though the Foundry is more limited than any tabletop DM’s creations, the possibility of playing through people’s content is just giddifying.
I could keep going on that topic, but I believe I’ll stop there for now and actually write a full on article about the Foundry. So click the little button below for the week’s news!
- iTZKooPA wondered what Snail Games is hoping to correct with Age of Wushu to delay it for such a lengthy and unknown length of time. I’m curious too!
- I had several things to say about Neverwinter as more details about it are revealed. There are 3 open beta weekends, and it is joining the ranks of other games with multi-tiered Founders Packs that are now on sale. Since there seems to be so much confusion on the issue, I’ll state it here – the drow is not exclusive to the $200 pack. What they are selling is the Renegade Drow, a special racial background.
- I displayed the new dev diary for Darkfall: Unholy Wars, and linked to where it can now to pre-ordered.
- iTZKooPA shared the good news that Gazillion Entertainment has reinstated the bonus coin rewards in the Marvel Heroes Founders Packs. They’ll be issued retroactively for those who purchased during the downtime. Huzzah for extra rewards.
- iTZKooPA had the scoop on the purchase of several companies. Wargaming.net purchased Day 1 Studios, and intends to move into the console market. F.3.A.R + World of Warplanes = ? Whatever that question mark stands for, it’ll likely be interesting. Not to be outdone, Grasshopper Manufacture merged with GungHo Group to bring us anime babes with chainsaws! Well, alright, I don’t know what they’ll be bringing us, but that merger really does being anime babes wielding giant weapons to mind.
- I enjoyed the Ecol Tactics teaser trailer. It’s worth taking a look if you enjoy fantasy tactics styled games! Do I need to add in the final at the beginning of that last sentence?
- iTZKooPA shared the details about TERA’s upcoming move to free-to-play. It’s the wave of the future, it seems like everyone is jumping in.
- Heartbourne examined the results of Blizzard’s experiment with allowing the resale of a cash shop item. Did the Guardian Cub do anything to affect gold selling?
- iTZKooPA had further news about the Defiance beta, and a new trailer to watch. It will definitely be interesting to see how this odd tvshow/MMO hybrid performs.
- iTZKooPA speculated on the possible ramifications of Duncan Jones at the helm of the upcoming World of Warcraft movie. I can’t say I know anything about either Duncan Jones or the movie, but you can always trust iTZKooPA to know his stuff.
- Mordil had the skinny on Vulcan, the newest god to join the roster of SMITE. I’ve got to hand it to Hi Rez Studios, they are definitely popping out new gods at a good clip.
- iTZKooPA had more details about this weekend’s Transformers Universe beta session.
