pax-2008 posts

Guild Wars PAX Panel video released

by Shawn Schuster Oct 11th 2008 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Guild Wars, Events, real-world, Interviews, MMO industry, Guild Wars 2, Academic

If you missed this year's Penny Arcade Expo, or you simply didn't get a chance to attend the packed ArenaNet panel entitled "Three Years of Guild Wars", now you can watch the video of the entire discussion from the comfort of your own computer chair.

You can download the full high quality, 51-minute video from the Guild Wars website, or watch it in six parts on the official ArenaNet Youtube channel. Either way, you'll get to see a fantastic Q&A session with ArenaNet's James Phinney (Lead Game Designer), Ree Soesbee (Game Designer), Jeff Grubb (Game Designer), Chris Lye (Director of Marketing), Katy Hargrove (Artist), and Katy Perry (Artist). This discussion panel includes the information on the series of Guild Wars books to be released before Guild Wars 2, as first reported by Massively during PAX08. Check out the entire video for some incredible information on the history of the game from the developers themselves.

Tags: arenanet, discussion, guild-wars, guild-wars-2, panel, pax, pax-08, pax-2008, penny-arcade-expo, video

New details surface about EVE's 'Walking in Stations' expansion

by James Egan Sep 8th 2008 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, Expansions, Game mechanics, Interviews, Previews, News items, Races

Ambulation, or 'Walking in Stations' as it now seems to be known, is a hotly anticipated feature coming to EVE Online. It represents the first effort by CCP Games to add a more interactive dimension to the game, where players will finally be able to step out of their ships to socialize, play games, and ... modify one another's bodies? Apparently so.

While some information about Walking in Stations is already known, EVE Stratics recently turned up more details. Trish "Seridove" Bennon and Michael "Solace" Lutes recently got some face time at PAX 2008 with CCP Games devs Jeremy Albert (Associate Producer) and Noah Ward (Lead Game Designer, aka CCP Hammerhead) who talked about aspects of the expansion.

Tags: ambulation, bars, body-modification, ccp-games, ccp-hammerhead, character-creation, conversation-trees, economy, eve-fanfest, eve-fanfest-2008, eve-online, eve-stratics, expansions, fanfest, game-mechanics, iceland, interviews, mini-games, noah-ward, pax-2008, plastic-surgery, promenade, races, walking-in-stations

SI Radio hooks up with CoX's Back Alley Brawler

by Adrian Bott Sep 6th 2008 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Interviews

With the initial wave of discussion following the announcement of City of Heroes Issue 13: Architect beginning to die down, SI Radio pokes the fire with an interview from PAX. In the spotlight is Back Alley Brawler, aka CoX Senior Animator Christopher Bruce. The interview's not all that long, but fortunately interviewer Chris 'Chaotica' Carkner is on the ball and asks pertinent questions.

BaB ends forum speculation by explaining what Pain Domination will entail. This set, the villainous counterpart of the heroes' Empathy, is being tailored specifically in order to offer parallel benefits in zone PvP to what Empathy offers. It has long been a complaint of villains that they don't have anything comparable to Empathy's buffs when fighting in the level 20-30 PvP zone Siren's Call. Since it's received wisdom in some quarters that the developers not only hate PvP but hate Villains, we wonder what impact this latest announcement will have.

Tags: back-alley-brawler, christopher-bruce, city-of-heroes, city-of-villains, coh, cov, cox, interview, ncsoft, pax-2008, split-infinity-radio

PAX08: Joystiq sets its sights on MMO newbies

by Kyle Horner Sep 5th 2008 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Aion, New titles, Warhammer Online, News items

Our sister site Joystiq sent an MMO newbie to wade through the crowds surrounding the PAX08 booths of two upcoming MMOs. One of those titles was Warhammer Online and the other was Aion. The goal was to spend some time with each game, talk to the developers and see which title appealed more to an uninitiated MMO player. The results? Well, take a look for yourself.

It's hard to spend a short amount of time with any game and draw a conclusion of some sort, especially an MMO. Even still, Initial impressions are just as important as long-term ones. Each of the two games chosen definitely give off an immediately different vibe. Most eastern MMOs from NCsoft tend to focus on the established crowd more than new players and Aion isn't an exception. Wheras Warhammer Online is doing more to appeal to a group of players who's first MMO was, well, World of Warcraft. So, as a newbie to the genre it's not hard to see where one might go.

Tags: aion, ea, electronic-arts, joystiq, mythic, mythic-entertainment, ncsoft, newbie, pax-2008, war, warhammer-online

New Aion videos give aerial tour of environments and classes in action

by James Egan Sep 4th 2008 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Aion, Classes, New titles, Previews, Races

Flight in MMOs is often focused on having mounts that let you take to the skies. NCsoft's latest twist on this idea is to give players their own pair of wings in Aion: The Tower of Eternity, which Massively recently got to see at PAX. So far we've seen a video showing off the character customization in Aion and a bit about the game's lore as well. NCsoft is steadily releasing more video footage of the new title though, most of which shows off some gorgeous graphics.

Our friends over at BigDownload are offering up two new Aion videos. One gives a soaring aerial tour of the game's environment an the other is a breakdown of the available classes, showing each of them in action. Check out the footage of both videos below the cut, as well as the links for BigDownload's HD versions.

Tags: aion, big-download, character-customization, classes, customization, download, environment, fantasy, flight, hd, lore, ncsoft, pax, pax-2008, previews, races, video

PAX08: Interview with Dane Caruthers of Tabula Rasa

by Shawn Schuster Sep 4th 2008 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, Tabula Rasa

At PAX08, we were able to catch up with NCsoft's Dane Caruthers, the Associate Producer for Tabula Rasa, for a quick interview. While the TR booth was busy and Caruthers was swamped with showing attendees all about the sci-fi MMO, he was kind enough to answer a few questions.

With Deployment 12 now on the Public Test Server, Caruthers talks a bit about what to expect with Deployment 13 and how it should make many Tabula Rasa players very happy. He also goes on to explain a bit about the recent contests they've been holding, including an explanation of Operation Immortality. Plus, Caruthers talks candidly about Tabula Rasa's beta through to its launch, and despite the fact that he says it was "quite possibly the smoothest MMO launch in history", they realize the mistakes that were made and are confident that the product they have to offer currently will win back those who tried the game and have since left.

Check out a transcript of the entire interview after the cut.

Tags: dane-caruthers, featured, interview, joystiqfeatures, ncsoft, pax-08, pax-2008, penny-arcade-expo, tabula-rasa, tr-deployment-12, tr-deployment-13

PAX08: GamerDNA interview focuses on subscription numbers

by Shawn Schuster Sep 4th 2008 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Business models, Culture, Events, real-world, Interviews

During our time at PAX08 this year, we got together with Jon Radoff, Founder and CEO of GamerDNA, a company that focuses on the community aspect of today's online games. Radoff was kind enough to give us an overview of what the company is about and how it pertains to the ever-growing MMO market. Originally this rough audio was meant for notes only, but it came out fairly well, so we thought we'd go ahead and post it for all to hear themselves.

So in this audio interview that you'll find enclosed below, Radoff explains something that we found quite peculiar. "Interestingly, a high percentage of those people who quit Age of Conan didn't go back to WoW, they actually just went off MMORPGs in general," he explains. This is the type of number-crunching that they do at GamerDNA to discover not only subscription numbers and box sales, but who is actually playing what, and how dedicated they are to their games. We encourage you to learn more about this truly unique company at their website, and be sure to listen to the complete interview below.

Tags: featured, gamerdna, guildcafe, interview, jon-radoff, joystiqfeatures, pax-08, pax-2008

PAX08: Twin Skies interview

by Shawn Schuster Sep 3rd 2008 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Real life, Screenshots, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Hands-on, Casual, Twin Skies

Twin Skies is a brand new MMO still in development from Meteor Games, which is fronted by two of the co-founders of the wildly-successful Neopets. Despite the fact that Twin Skies is still in its early stages, their presence at PAX08 seemed to be well-received by gamers. This was the first public showing of the MMO that was only first announced a month ago from a company that was introduced to us only two months ago!

So we took this opportunity to sit down with the CEO Adam Powell and Lead Designer Aaron Matthew for a bit of an exclusive look at what this game is all about. Despite the fact that the surrounding PAX booths were competing for attention all around us, we were able to get some great information on this upcoming game.

Follow along on our exclusive tour of Twin Skies>>

Tags: browser-based, featured, joystiqfeatures, meteor-games, pax-08, pax-2008, penny-arcade-expo, twin-skies

The BigCast @PAX08 Special: Warhammer Online

by Kyle Horner Sep 3rd 2008 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News items

Massively's sister site Big Download has a very special podcast with Jeff Hickman, Paul Barnett and Josh Drescher from Warhammer Online. Of course, you probably don't need us to tell you that these fellows made for a very interesting podcast, but what you do need to know is that this edition of the BigCast is very NSFW, so it may be wise to wear some headphones. As it happens, there isn't much talk about Warhammer Online. Instead, you'll hear a lot Mr. Barnett asking everyone questions and the ever-informative Josh Drescher pitch a very wonderful radio ad for Bacon Salt -- because everything should taste like bacon.

As someone who was a part of this endeavour into the unknowns of German hotels, taxis and of course, Bacon Salt, this blogger can tell you it was a wild ride that you won't be remiss for listening in on.

Tags: bacon-salt, big-download, bigcast, jeff-hickman, josh-drescher, kyle-horner, mythic, mythic-entertainment, paul-barnett, pax-2008, podcast, war, warhammer-online, xav-de-matos

PAX08: Aion's first U.S. public showing

by Shawn Schuster Sep 3rd 2008 at 9:00AM

Filed under: At a glance, Fantasy, Screenshots, Aion, Business models, Game mechanics, New titles, Opinion, Hands-on

"Hey, isn't that the game where you have wings and fly around?"

This was probably the number one quote heard around the Aion booth at PAX08. NCsoft's Aion: The Tower of Eternity had its first public showing in the States this last weekend at PAX, and the general consensus seemed to be mostly positive. As the opening quote suggests though, many gamers were after that novelty of flight, and we can't help but wonder if that will be enough to carry potential players through the game for the long haul.

So we took this opportunity to spend an hour or so with the game, to get a few of those precious first impressions for our readers. Keep in mind that this is only first impressions on a game that isn't finished yet, so take it with a grain of salt.

Gallery: Aion Screenshots

Tags: aion, aion-tower-of-eternity, featured, flying, joystiqfeatures, ncsoft, pax-08, pax-2008, penny-arcade-expo, wings

PAX08: Hands-on with Mines of Moria

by Shawn Schuster Sep 2nd 2008 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, Classes, Events, real-world, Expansions, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, Maps, Hands-on, Education

This weekend at PAX 2008, Massively had the opportunity to be a part of the first-ever public preview of Mines of Moria with Lord of the Rings Online Executive Producer Jeffrey Steefel. During this showing, Steefel showed us many of the main features of this first expansion for LotRO, including the Legendary Weapon system, the two new classes, the vastness of the mines themselves and much more.

The overall impression we got from this presentation was that this expansion is going to be epic. Just the sheer size of the world, which includes the mines themselves, more of Eregion and into Lothlorien, will be immense. This, combined with the game mechanic changes and additions to just about every aspect of gameplay, will speak volumes (pun!) about the potential of Turbine with this franchise.

Follow along on our journey through Moria>>

Gallery: PAX08: Mines of Moria Preview

Tags: featured, jeffrey-steefel, joystiqfeatures, lord-of-the-rings-online, lotro, mines-of-moria, pax-08, pax-2008, turbine

PAX08: Hermann Peterscheck interviewed on all things Jumpgate Evolution

by Kyle Horner Sep 2nd 2008 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Jumpgate Evolution, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage

On the last day of PAX08 we stopped by the Jumpgate Evolution booth, which was full of people with glazed-over eyes as they blasted away at enemy ships in space. After some time with the game, we sat down with the NetDevil producer Hermann Peterscheck. In-between our questions and his answers we also got to watch him blow up some space pirates, fly through a huge asteroid and battle above a super-volcanic planet with chunks of land -- that had a city on it -- floating in orbit around the planet. It was a lengthy look at a game that's already come a long way and is still showing some real promise, too.

Gallery: Jumpgate Evolution Gallery

Tags: bomber, courier, featured, fighter, hauler, hermann-peterscheck, jge, joystiqfeatures, jumpgate-evolution, netdevil, pax-2008, space

PAX08: Hermann Peterscheck interviewed on all things Jumpgate Evolution, page two

by Kyle Horner Sep 2nd 2008 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Jumpgate Evolution, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage

Tags: battlestar-galactica, hermann-peterscheck, jge, jumpgate, jumpgate-evolution, netdevil, pax-2008, sci-fi, space

Seen@PAX08: Cryptic's Champions book treasure trove

by Kyle Horner Sep 1st 2008 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Super-hero, Culture, Massively Event Coverage, Champions Online

While Champions Online was being shown at PAX08, we discovered something on the other side of the booth. It was a treasure trove of the tabletop books that the game is based on. When we say treasure trove, we really mean it, too. The amount and variety of books being sold was no less than astounding. Plus, the president of Hero Games was there to answer any questions or concerns regarding the books. We even got some tips on which of the books to start with for anyone interested in the game because of Champions Online. Also, we found out which book contains all your required Foxbat information, so that we can continue to worship him as one of the greatest villains of all time.

Gallery: PAX 2008 General Gallery

Tags: champions, champions-online, cryptic, cryptic-studios, pax-2008, penny-arcade

PAX08: Talking with Champions Online's content lead, Zeke Sparkes

by Kyle Horner Sep 1st 2008 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Super-hero, Interviews, New titles, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage, Champions Online

After speaking with John Layman at PAX08, our second Champions Online interview was with content lead Zeke Sparkes. We talked sound effects, travel powers, character creation, controls and zone creation among other things. In fact, we actually got a short period of hands-on time with the game prior to the interview.

So far, Champions Online had only been playable with the Xbox 360 controller, but we were able to finally try the keyboard and mouse controls at PAX. Instead of hitting a face button on the Xbox controller to do your basic attack, you tap an assigned number-key on your keyboard. As you do this, you build up energy and can move through the rest of the powers, which for us were set to the rest of the numbered keys. Overall, the keyboard and mouse controls feel tight and responsive for a game scheduled to launch in Spring of 2009.

Tags: champions, champions-online, character-creation, cryptic, cryptic-online, featured, jack-emmert, john-layman, joystiqfeatures, pax-08, pax-2008, pax08, pc, penny-arcade, sound-effects, travel-powers, xbox-360, zeke-sparkes, zones