pax-2009 posts

Gaze onto Dol Guldur in Siege of Mirkwood

by Kyle Horner Oct 8th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, News items

Back at PAX09, we brought you information on Lord of the Rings Online's latest expansion, Siege of Mirkwood. Unfortunately, at that time we weren't able to show any images of the breathtaking views Turbine treated us to -- at least not until now.

Say hello to Dol Guldur, the fortress that served as Sauron's home back in his necromancer days in The Hobbit. It's pretty evil looking, yeah? it's also a massive vertical dungeon that -- and we can say from first-hand experience -- will astonish any fan of Gothic architecture . There are plenty more screens in the gallery, so take a look and share your thoughts.

Gallery: The Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood expansion

Tags: dol-guldur, lord-of-the-rings, lord-of-the-rings-online, lotro, pax, pax-2009, sauron, screens, screenshot, screenshots, siege-of-mirkwood, tolkien, turbine

PAX 2009: ArenaNet offers a variety of videos for fans at home

by Krystalle Voecks Sep 16th 2009 at 7:30PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Guild Wars, Events, real-world, New titles, News items, Guild Wars 2

While we've brought you all manner of tasty insights and asides into what happened at PAX 2009 this year, there's something to be said for being able to catch the panels yourself. Knowing full well that their fans were going to go completely berserk when they heard all the juicy details about Guild Wars 2, ArenaNet has gone to great lengths to make sure to record all of their panels at PAX 2009 for you to check out. How awesome is that?

The topics for this year were two completely different question and answer panels on the Art of Guild Wars 2, an insightful talk with the Guild Wars Live team who currently take care of the game, and a really interesting panel on the Fall of Ascalon novel that will give us the backstory between Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2. So if you weren't able to make it, be sure to check out the other half of the above lore video behind the jump, then head over to ArenaNet's official video channel to enjoy the rest!

Tags: arenanet, art, guild-wars, guild-wars-2, live-team, lore, panels, pax-2009, video

MMOs top Steam and Direct2Drive weekly charts

by Brooke Pilley Sep 15th 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: MMO industry, New titles, News items

We told you September was going to be a crazy month for MMOs! It seems that for the week of 9/6 to 9/12, MMOs topped both the Steam and Direct2Drive sales charts. Aion: Collector's Edition was first and Champions Online second on Steam and and it was the same for D2D, except they swapped first and second positions. Fallen Earth (preorder) was third on D2D, while not for sale on Steam. The Aion: Standard Edition took tenth on Steam and fifth on D2D.

It's also worth mentioning that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, while not an MMO, ranked highly for the week as well (third on Steam and fourth on D2D). BioWare announced a special $10 deal for KotOR at PAX last week for fans of their upcoming MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. People buying KotOR through D2D will receive a 25% discount on SWTOR when it releases. Speaking of D2D, you should keep your eye on their special Five Year Anniversary page because next Monday ten RPG/MMOs will be going on sale for $5.00 each!

Update: Thanks for the fix, cb!

Tags: aion, champions-online, fallen-earth, knights-of-the-old-republic, kotor, pax-2009, sales-charts, star-wars-the-old-republic, swtor

All Points Bulletin video podcast a first look at gameplay

by James Egan Sep 14th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Podcasts, Video, New titles, All Points Bulletin, Crime

It's no secret that some of us at Massively are looking forward to playing All Points Bulletin, an urban crime title on the way from Realtime Worlds. We learned a bit more about the game at PAX 2009 but we're always hoping to find out more. Fortunately, the company released a new video podcast today filmed at GamesCom 2009 in Cologne that many of our readers have been waiting for -- one with actual gameplay.

The series of videos released prior to this focused on the extensive customization options All Points Bulletin will offer. Although we see quite a bit of gameface from the audience in this latest video podcast, we also see a bit more of that attention to detail emphasized in the previous video footage playing out in the mean streets of the waterfront district. Among other things, the footage shows some very detailed gun animations w. shell ejects and, unsurprisingly, a lot of polish on the look of the vehicles. The user interface is also rather unobtrusive, particularly with the clear compass to guide players.

Interested in checking it out? We've got an HD video embed of APB Video Podcast 9: Viva Cologne for you after the jump.

Tags: all-points-bulletin, apb, chris-collins, crime, gamescom-2009, mark-rein, new-titles, pax-2009, podcasts, realtime-worlds, urban-crime, video, video-podcast

SWTOR's Coruscant artwork and PAX video

by Kyle Horner Sep 13th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Video, New titles, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

So maybe you missed out on seeing the glorious video reveal of Coruscant at PAX this year. No worries, because BioWare's been kind enough to release a high quality copy of the video into the wilds of the internet. We've posted it after the break in case you'd like to simple jump right into it.

There's more news beyond the video being available on the game's official website, though, such as a bevy of very cool concept art that should entice any Star Wars: The Old Republic fan for several minutes bare minimum -- some of us may spend longer amounts of time staring.

None of this is a big reveal, but that's perfectly understandable given the team's presence at PAX last weekend. So what about next weekend? Well, next weekend they'd better deliver or else we'll have to uh- well we'll just be sad if they don't, but it'll be a really vicious sadness that sends chills down spines!

Tags: bioware, coruscant, ea, electronic-arts, lucasarts, pax, pax-2009, penny-arcade, penny-arcade-expo, star-wars, swtor, tor, video

PAX 2009: Dark mysteries of The Secret World

by Kyle Horner Sep 10th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: New titles, The Secret World, Massively Event Coverage

So, you may have heard: Funcom is taking famous myths, urban legends, pop culture, history and even things like the Rota Fortunae and blending it all into a game called The Secret World. We sat down with lead designer Martin Brusgaar and creative director Ragnar Tornquist at PAX 2009 to discuss the game and a few of its many secrets.

The Secret World has a vibe unlike any other MMO or really game currently out there. Its premise is simple -- all the legends, myths and more are true. Atlantis is rising, vampires roam the night, 2012 is the beginning of a new fourth age and so on. The world is a dark, scary and magical place. Although, it's more of the first two than anything else.

Gallery: The Secret World

Tags: age-of-conan, aoc, atlantis, combat, dragon, featured, footage, funcom, illuminati, london, martin-brusgaar, new-york, pax, pax-2009, ragnar-tornquist, screens, screenshot, screenshots, seoul, templar, the-secret-world, tsw, video

PAX 2009: We travel east with Rise of the Godslayer

by Kyle Horner Sep 9th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Age of Conan, Expansions, Massively Event Coverage

Age of Conan came to PAX pretty much directly off their announcement of the Rise of the Godslayer expansion. So when we arrived at our appointment to check the game out and speak with Executive Producer Craig Morrison, you can imagine our curiosity levels were quite high.

This expansion is taking players far into the eastern lands of Khitai, which is essentially a retelling of our own ancient eastern worlds. Something we were told right away is that Funcom wanted to avoid Japanese influences, as they're fairly over-saturated in videogames. Instead, they're going for a heavy focus on Korean and Chinese culture for the lands of Khitai.

Gallery: Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer

Tags: age-of-conan, aoc, china, conan, craig-morrison, expansion, featured, funcom, khitai, korea, pax, pax-2009, rise-of-the-godslayer, robert-e-howard, rotg

PAX 2009: We travel east with Rise of the Godslayer part 2

by Kyle Horner Sep 9th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Age of Conan, Expansions, Massively Event Coverage

Tags: age-of-conan, aoc, cataclysm, ccp, conan, eve, eve-online, expansion, funcom, pax, pax-2009, rise-of-the-godslayer, robert-e-howard, tiger-mount

Massively Speaking Episode 68: Dragon*Con and PAX impressions

by Shawn Schuster Sep 9th 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Podcasts, Culture, Opinion, Massively Speaking

Massively Speaking Episode 68 is our look back at last weekend's two big gaming culture conventions. Kyle talks about his experiences and interviews at PAX, while Shawn talks about his time at Dragon*Con.

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot us an email to podcast AT massively DOT com. Maybe we'll read your letter on the air!

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes.
[Zune] Subscribe to Massively Speaking via the Zune service.
[RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator.
[Digg] Like the show? Digg it.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.
[VW] Listen at VirginWorlds.com
Listen here on the page:

Read below the cut for the full show notes.

Tags: dragoncon-2009, featured, massively-speaking, pax-2009, podcasting, podcasts

PAX 2009: Hands-on and phasers locked with Star Trek Online

by Kyle Horner Sep 8th 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: New titles, Star Trek Online, Massively Hands-on

We stopped by Cryptic's booth at PAX 2009 for a chance to speak with the Executive Producer for Star Trek Online Craig Zinkievich, and obviously to get our hands on the game as well. Well, turns out our demands were acceptable, and we got to both play the game and prod at Craig with our incessant "questions" for your -- and of course our own -- pleasure.

Cryptic's goal for Star Trek Online is to make players feel like they're inside an episode of Star Trek when they play the game. That's why they call their story-focused missions episodes, and why every one of them deals with both ground and space combat. Our hands-on experience focused on this aspect of the game, and much combat was had by, well, us.

Tags: atari, craig-zinkievich, cryptic, cryptic-studios, featured, federation, klingon, pax, pax-2009, star-trek, star-trek-online, sto, sto-featured

PAX 2009: Hands-on and phasers locked with Star Trek Online part 2

by Kyle Horner Sep 8th 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: New titles, Star Trek Online, Massively Hands-on

Tags: atari, craig-zinkievich, cryptic, cryptic-studios, hands-on, pax, pax-2009, romulan, romulans, star-trek, star-trek-online, sto

PAX 2009: Turbine tells us all about Siege of Mirkwood

by Kyle Horner Sep 8th 2009 at 9:30AM

Filed under: Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, News items, Massively Event Coverage

This last weekend at PAX 2009 we had the opportunity to sit down with Lord of the Rings Online's executive producer Jeffrey Steefel. He gave us a sneak peek at some of the new zone and instanced content coming in Siege of Mirkwood, as well as many of the new features. So if you're skeptical or just plain curious, we think you'll be most intrigued to see what knowledge we've uncovered after venturing deep into Mirkwood and all the way into Sauron's fortress of Dol Guldur.

Tags: dol-guldur, expansion, featured, jeffrey-steefel, lord-of-the-rings, lord-of-the-rings-online, lotro, mirkwood, pax, pax-2009, sauron, siege-of-mirkwood, turbine

PAX 2009: Turbine tells us all about Siege of Mirkwood part 2

by Kyle Horner Sep 8th 2009 at 9:30AM

Filed under: Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Massively Event Coverage

Tags: combat, horses, jeffrey-steefel, lord-of-the-rings, lord-of-the-rings-online, lotro, my-lotro, mylotro, pax, pax-2009, rohan, siege-of-mirkwood, skirmish, skirmishes, turbine

PAX 2009: BioWare offers Star Wars: The Old Republic fans discount on KOTOR

by James Egan Sep 7th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

We're all about MMOs at Massively (shocker), but once in a while something from our RPG past resurfaces and captures our attention again. Clearly we've got a number of Star Wars fans among our readers looking at how many people are following our Star Wars: The Old Republic coverage, and for many gamers the original Knights of the Old Republic (circa 2003) was a memorable experience. BioWare announced at PAX 2009 that they're handing out $10 doses of nostalgia by offering KOTOR downloads for PC through both Direct2Drive and Steam.

Getting back to the MMO angle, there's another 25% off of that for Star Wars: The Old Republic community members who download the game from Direct2Drive. Sure, PAX attendees get their KOTOR downloads for free -- damn you, Kyle Horner! -- but seriously, it's only $10 to begin with. If you missed Knights of the Old Republic the first time around, this is as good a time as any to catch up. Check out the announcement over on the official SWTOR site and create your account before September 15th if you're really adamant about saving a few bucks.

Tags: bioware, direct2drive, downloads, knights-of-the-old-republic, kotor, pax, pax-2009, rpg, sci-fi, star-wars, star-wars-the-old-republic, steam, swtor

PAX 2009: Massively's first look at gameplay in All Points Bulletin

by Kyle Horner Sep 7th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: New titles, News items, All Points Bulletin, Massively Event Coverage

All Points Bulletin was representing at PAX and while the game wasn't playable I did manage to see a very cool PAX-only gameplay video presentation. Epic Games' Mark Rein and Realtime Worlds' community officer Chris Collins – you know, that dashing gentlemen in all those cool video podcasts – played a bunch of the game and edited it into a nicely narrated sample of what playing the game is like.

What I ended up seeing was a game that by all accounts looks very ready for launch, so I wasn't surprised to be told beta was "a few weeks" away and not months. And while that date is still a little ways off, most other attendees who saw the video seemed to agree that launch day couldn't come soon enough.

Tags: all-points-bulletin, apb, chris-collins, ea, ea-partners, electronic-arts, featured, mark-rein, pax, pax-2009, realtime-worlds

Massively Features

Events Calendar

Name	Date
GenCon Indy	Aug 5-8, 2010
SOE Fan Faire	Aug 5-8, 2010
Xsyon Prelude Launch	Aug 15, 2010
GamesCom Expo	Aug 18-22, 2010
Earthrise Launch	Q3 2010
Dragon*Con	Sep 3-6, 2010
PAX Prime	Sep 3-5, 2010
Final Fantasy XIV Launch	Sep 30, 2010
GDC Online	Oct 5-8, 2010
LEGO Universe Launch	Oct 26, 2010
DCUO Launch	Nov 2, 2010

Massively Staff

Name	Title
Shawn Schuster	Editor-in-Chief
Seraphina Brennan	Senior Editor
Brianna Royce	West Coast Editor
Dan O'Halloran	Features Coordinator
Brendan Drain	Contributing Editor
Eliot Lefebvre	Contributing Editor
Jef Reahard	Contributing Editor
Justin Olivetti	Contributing Editor
Krystalle Voecks	Contributing Editor
Rubi Bayer	Contributing Editor
Tateru Nino	Contributing Editor
Beau Hindman	Columnist
Edward Marshall	Columnist
Greg Waller	Columnist
Jeremy Stratton	Columnist
Larry Everett	Columnist
MJ Guthrie	Columnist
Patrick Mackey	Columnist
Ryan Greene	Columnist
Lisa Poisso	Columnist