E3 Event Coverage

Previews

  • Atomic Previews WoW Expansion

    My EQLive Ranger was a bloodied elf, but I guess Blizzard is talking about a different kind of Blood Elf

    Blizzard's official site coverage of the just-announced World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade features pics, information on new epic weapons, crafting and enchanting updates, and of course the introduction of the Blood Elves race for the Horde and the raising of the level cap to 70.

    • New Player Races: New allies will join the game, expanding the story line and allowing players to develop powerful new characters within the world.

    • Higher Level Limit: The game’s level cap is being raised to 70, and every new level will offer meaningful spell, ability, and talent upgrades for each character class.
    • New Lands and Battlegrounds: Explore the magical realms of the Blood Elves, journey through the Dark Portal into untamed Outland, and visit dungeons and battlefields previously inaccessible to players.
    • Flying Mounts: In Outland, players will gain access to unique airborne mounts that will allow for smoother travel over some of that region’s more hazardous terrain.
    • Jewelcrafting, Socketable Items, and More: Crafters will be pleased to know that the expansion adds an all-new profession to the game: Jewelcrafting. With Jewelcrafting comes the advent of socketable items in World of Warcraft, which will give players additional variety in how they can customize their gear. In addition, existing professions will be enhanced to take advantage of the increased character-level limit.
    • New Quests, New Monsters, and New Challenges: As the boundaries of World of Warcraft are stretched farther than ever before, there will be exciting new quests for players to undertake and new monsters to confront. And with greater challenges come greater rewards….

    Read the World of Warcraft expansion press release, enjoy official BlizzCon coverage, or bask in the new World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade expansion site.

    Related links:

    Features, Previews
    Mon, Oct 31, 2005
    Ethec
  • MMORPG.com Previews Auto Assault from AGC

    Mixing it up, Auto Assault-style

    NetDevil recently went back to the drawing board, pushing the release date of futuristic vehicular destruction MMO Auto Assault, and MMORPG.com found out part of the reason why. It seems NetDevil's focus has shifted toward creating a more varied and interesting experience for players, in part accomplished by removing repetitive quests and giving the game's large adventuring areas their own tactical "feel."

    So what is going to happen to these areas? The design lead will say that the theme of an area is “X.” For example, one of the mutant area’s themes is a swamp area, another is underground. The underground area has an entirely different feel than an open highway and requires different tactics. NetDevil is also trying to improve storylines; for example, Pikes and Scavs are both infantry classes, but were both very much the same. Now, though, Pikes feel more like miners; some of them are mining in camps, while others carry around dangerous explosives. The Pikes are willing to suicide, blowing themselves up as long as they take you (and surrounding buildings) with them. Scavangers are very different; they are all about survival and would never suicide like the Pikes.

    View the MMORPG.com preview of Auto Assault from Austin Games Conference.

    Related Links:

    Features, Previews
    Mon, Oct 31, 2005
    Ethec
  • PotBS Preview at MMORPG.com

    Pirates live for PvP

    MMORPG.com's Pirates of the Burning Sea coverage focuses on how players battle on the high seas in this late 2005 maritime MMO.

    At the Austin Gaming Conference (AGC) I met with Russell Williams, Flying Lab Software Executive Producer; and Kevin Maginn, Flying Lab Designer to take about their upcoming game, Pirates of the Burning Sea. A naval MMO, PoTBS is set in the Caribbean and largely concentrates on PvPing with other players. There are three types of PvP in the game, allowing for ample combat between the English, Spanish, French, and Pirates.

    When Flying Lab set out to design PvP they wanted it to be meaningful, and thus the first type of PvP is a battle over territory. They also wanted PvP to be accessible but avoidable, so that those who want to participate know where to go while those who don’t can stay clear, and they wanted all of the boats to have an impact, even merchant ships.

    Read the Pirates of the Burning Sea PvP preview at MMORPG.com.

    Related Links:

    Features, Previews
    Mon, Oct 31, 2005
    Ethec
  • WoW Expansion Preview at AtomicMPC

    More burning questions crusade around us.
    AtomicMPC has posted a World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade preview mentioning among other things, auction houses in every city.

    " It's safe to say after that Blizzard is on the right track with its first expansion to World of Warcraft, one of the most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Attendees were shown a preview of the game at the inaugural BlizzCon, a celebration of Blizzard's games. "

    You can read entire World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Preview at AtomicMPC.
    Related Links:

    Features, Previews
    Mon, Oct 31, 2005
    Boomjack
  • WoW Expansion Preview at 1UP

    A quick look at The Burning Crusade, without the religious fervour and piles of burning lumber.
    1UP has posted a preview of the World of Warcraft expansion, The Burning Crusade. The preview focuses on the new Horde race, the Blood Elves. Now all the men hiding their female side can play a more attractive female character. There is your Halloween scare.

    " The first thing you notice about Sunstrider Isle is that it feels a lot like an Alliance town. There's lots of foliage and animals and green and blue and so on, unlike Horde starting areas which are liberally covered with black and brown. Also, because BlizzCon is the only place to check out the expansion, there were a ton of blood elf characters -- so much that in any quest that involves killing things, the time it takes for a creature to respawn is longer than usual due to everyone else killing the same creatures you're going after. The gameworld was set to night time, which made Sunstider Isle look a bit like the Night Elf regions (and not as color crazy as the screenshots in our news story earlier today), but, just as the Horde finally has a "hot female" race to play as, it now has a picturesque little zone to hang out in as well. "

    You can read entire World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Preview at 1UP.
    Related Links:

    Features, Previews
    Mon, Oct 31, 2005
    Boomjack
  • Auto Assault Preview at MMORPG.com

    Toyotas With TOW Missiles.
    MMORPG.com has posted an Auto Assault Preview based on their chat with Valerie Massy and Scott Brown at the Austin Game Conference.

    " Thursday of AGC I got to sit down and talk to Scott Brown, project lead of AutoAssault, and Valerie Massey, Online Community Coordinator. After this summer’s roadhouses I was excited to see where AutoAssault was, and where it was going. "

    You can read the Auto Assault Preview at MMORPG.com.
    Related Links:

    Features, Previews
    Mon, Oct 31, 2005
    Boomjack
  • CoV: Final Beta Impressions

    Beta is over, here come the villains.
    GameCloud have posted their final impressions of the City of Villains beta. The game is scheduled to release on October 31st, with pre-order customers jumping in two days early.

    " Last month we got our first chance to play the beta version of City of Villains, the stand alone expansion to the hit super hero themed MMORPG from developer Cryptic Studios and publisher NCSoft. At the time we wondered how the two separate games would co-exist and if players of the original would leave for the sequel. Since that time NCSoft announced that players would be able to play both games for the same $14.95 a month fee, something that Sony Online pioneered with their $21.95 a month fee for access to all of their MMORPG titles. "

    You can read the entire City of Villains Beta Impressions article at GameCloud.
    Related Links:

    Features, Previews
    Thu, Oct 27, 2005
    Boomjack
  • Galaxies Expansion Item Teaser

    In case you were thinking Mustafarian had something to do with Reggae music...

    SOE previews the November Star Wars Galaxies: Trials of Obi-Wan expansion by way of showing us some new equipment and house items that can be found on the inhospitable lava planet of Mustafar. It's enough to elicit gutteral noises from any excitable Wookie.

    Mustafar, once a simple mining planet, now suffers in the merciless grip of greed. Treasure hunters and mercenaries of all sorts risk their necks to cross dangerous lava fields, battle renegade droids and explore deep into old republic facilities still armed with dangerous defense grids because the lure of treasure is so great.

    New expansion items for Star Wars Galaxies... take a look!

    Other links you might enjoy:

    Features, Previews
    Wed, Oct 26, 2005
    Ethec
  • Gods and Heroes Preview at MMOGInfo

    Gods And Heroes. Spreading the word, one sword at at time.
    MMOGInfo has posted a Gods And Heroes preview that touches on many aspects of the Perpetual Entertainment developed game. There did not seem to be any new information in the preview, but it was a good refresher. :

    " Perpetual Entertainment has seted out to create a MMORPG that introduces the players completely in the Rome of year 300 B.C. allowing them to participate directly in the expansion of this State city. For it Perpetual is creating a persistent virtual world with hundreds of dynamic zones as much in the regions dominated and adjacent to Rome as mythologic realms. Thus we will have from extensive valleys, mountainous plains, hills to nordic regions, mountain ranges, islands and much more. "

    You can read the entire Gods and Heroes Preview at MMOGInfo.
    Related Links:

    Features, Previews
    Wed, Oct 26, 2005
    Boomjack
  • WHO Preview at Warhammer Alliance

    Warhammer Online Resurrected. I think that should be the official name of the game.
    Warhammer Alliance has posted a brief preview of Warhammer Online. There isn't anything new here, but it's nice to see a site up and running to cover this "off in the distance" title by Mythic.

    "Despite taking place in a entirely new setting, Mythic will be drawing
    on all the Warhammer fantasy material no matter whether it comes from
    the Warhammer Fantasy Battles or Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. This will
    ensure that this new game will look, feel, and perhaps even taste like
    real Warhammer.
    "

    You can read the entire Warhammer Online Preview at Warhammer Alliance.
    Related Links:

    Features, Previews
    Fri, Oct 21, 2005
    Boomjack
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