PAX Day 2 Recap – Civ, Hawken, HocasN, SOE, and Even More Cosplay!

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), OnRPG Editor-in-Chief

 

 

If there is a must-go day for PAX East, it’s without question Saturday. The cosplayers were out in force. The devs were only slightly hung over and could still coherently answer questions about their games. And the swag was flowing like milk and honey with giveaways and events going on at every corner. While I hung back to write-up our day 1 recap, Bowen and James hit the floor early to get some updated coverage on the MOBA Smashmuck Champions!

 

 

To say this game has come a long way since its earlier beta tests last year would be a gross understatement. It’s almost unrecognizable now compared to before and the animations and gameplay have been smoothed out immensely. But luckily you don’t have to take my word for it and can see for yourself in one of the many upcoming videos we’ll be pumping out this week so be sure to subscribe to MMOHut’s Youtube channel to be the first to know.

 

 

Next up James and Bowen were set to jump across the sky bridge to the Westin Hotel for a meeting with Linda “Brasse” Carlson, SOE’s Global Community Director, Dave Georgeson, Director of Development, and Ben Conrad, PR Manager. But not before stopping for some refreshment from none other than James’ favorite title:

 

 

If you want the goods, you got to fight past this guy first.

 

 

Finally after a grueling battle James got to get a preview of what’s coming ahead for SOE in 2013 and while Linda was notably tight lipped on anything related to Everquest Next, she promised that SOE Live was going to be the best show they’ve ever put on so fans might want to start booking their tickets while they still can.

 

If Linda looked familiar to you, here’s why!

 

Meanwhile our OnRPG editorial team was in for quite the surprise when they landed a spot in Wargaming’s Future of Esports panel only to find that Wargaming wasn’t there! The Belarus based military MMO company is certainly known for their intense love of partying so this wasn’t a huge surprise to the fans and thankfully some representatives working with Wargaming stepped in to cover the event. Then OnRPG’s Team Doyle was off to check out the FF Reborn Panel which I have yet to ask them about to keep an eye out for the write-up on that!

 

 

With some downtime at last James and Bowen took a wide sweep around the outskirts of the convention to meet up with some of the most popular Youtube commentators for Happy Wheels as well as one of the best Mr T impersonators (or at least the most animated) we’ve ever seen.

 

 

 

Finally I arrived on the scene to go hands-on with S2Games’ new bot mode and wow they might not have been first to doing co-op vs AI in the MOBA genre but hands down I can attest they’ve done it the best. Currently they have 16 Heroes represented as bots from Heroes of Newerth and one of the sixteen was programmed by the community members and ported into the game by S2Games!

 

 

 

 

This is because not only has S2Games developed one of the most masterful bot systems in the MOBA genre but they have made the dev tools available to the public for testing and programming. There is even a European professor that is so enamored by the system that he has begun testing his students’ ability to program Heroes of Newerth bots as a class final. Keep an eye out for our upcoming interview with one of HoN’s greatest players to learn all the details on their fast evolving bot mode.

 

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While we were in the MOBA region of the convention center we made sure to swing by Riot’s booth for their official cosplay showdown competition and Bowen made sure to snag you all the best the League of Legends fans had to offer:

 

It’s not a fulfilling day at PAX until I get to play with Ahri’s tails!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Requesting Pic of Riot IronStylus meeting this Leona

 

My Personal Favorite of the Show. So Much Detail!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ultimate Power Couple. I sense Fanfics incoming.

 

 

 

 Hard to believe this still isn’t all of our League of Legends cosplay pics. Don’t miss our Day 3 recap for even more! But for now we move on to Hawken.

 

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Next up we hit the business section of the show to get an early look at the newest regions to be added to Hawken by Meteor Entertainment. The demo room was rather cramped so I left James and Bowen to handle it while the Doyles and I met with their PR rep Shannon who was kind enough to offer some just revealed previews of their newest map, Valkyrie:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On an unrelated note I caught the world’s largest Pikachu.

 

 

Afterwards it was on to Gazilion Entertainment’s booth where James and I received a preview of Marvel Heroes’ Savage Lands chapter from Leo Olebe, VP of Marketing. The demo included yet another cutscene proving why Cyclops is a terrible candidate for flying air ships. I can’t think of a super hero driver with more crash landings than him (maybe Batman has him beat).

 

 

The zone was awesome with plenty of savages and dinosaurs and savage dinosaurs to battle and we learned plenty about the dynamic way in which this game takes instance zoning out of the equation while still maintaining that crisp world feel that the Creative Director David Brevik is known for in the Diablo franchise. We’ll also be showing off a bit of the character customization and why Wolverine is OP in James’ hands in our upcoming video.

 

 

At this point the PAX fatigue was starting to show as everywhere you looked, gamers were flat on their backs exhausted from a full day of lines, panels, swag collecting, and picture taking. But with 5 Hour Energy in hand I pushed on to catch a spot at the back of the Firaxis panel where I witnessed Dennis Shirk reveal a number of features coming in Civilization 5’s Brave New World expansion.

 

 

Cultural victories are getting a huge overhaul with world wonders and other lesser buildings allowing room for Great Works that can be created by Great People and allow you to lure tourists from various nations to see them. This offers a source of revenue as well as a way to gain influence over other nations for your ultimate cultural victory once you become influential enough in the world. You’ll be able to track your level of influence with various civilizations ranging from unknown to popular, exotic and other levels. Various political factors like open borders also offer ways to increase your tourism.

 

 

Trade Routes are also being introduced to allow you to perform various new strategic decisions such as transferring food or production between cities in your empire, trading excess resources to other nations, and embarking on overseas trade which involves protecting an actual cargo ship unit as they travel to their destination. It’s a simple system but provides some fun features and I liked that you have to be smart about resource trading and identify areas in the world where certain resources are lacking to maximize your profit with City-State trade. It also gives further power to commercial buildings by giving trade route bonuses to them.

 

 

We also saw what may have been an elaborate joke but I think is certainly going to be included in the game: The Xcom Squad. This is course is a reference to Firaxis other wildly popular strategy game Xcom and offers a future era paratrooper that can offer a combat option to tackle the Giant Death Robot.

 

 

The expansion will also feature 9 new civilizations of which we’ve seen Poland, Brazil, and Assyria revealed already. Poland’s leader Casimir will be bringing the interesting trait Solidarity to give your nation one free social policy for each era you progress through. They also have a unique unit called the Winged Hussar that is a 5 movement mounted unit that can push enemy units back a space to break enemy’s defensive line. This has great synergy with their unique building, the Ducal Stable, that provides additional gold from building the stable.

 

 

 

We ran out of the Firaxis panel just in time to hijack the Bethesda bus to their Elder Scrolls Online party (avoiding the 500 person line that would have been waiting for us otherwise) and off we went to an incredible PAX party that was literally held inside of a castle. Bethesda had devised a currency within the castle that allowed you to purchase food and beer, gamble with other party goers, purchase green screen pictures, purchase lottery tickets, and even buy gaming gear and authentic Elder Scrolls gear replicas in the shop. In all the years I’ve been doing this, that was the most creative community party I’ve ever seen throw and Matt Firor knew it as he proudly looked over the Elder Scrolls Online monitors that never had empty seats throughout the duration of the 7 hour party.

 

 

All in all this was a great day and we have plenty of video and editorial coverage on the way so now I leave you with our final page of PAX Day 2 pics!

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JamesBl0nde Livin’ the Dream

 

Don’t miss our Day 3 recap or this guy will find you!

PAX East Day 1 Recap – Studio 5, WildStar, Cosplay, and Indie Madness

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), OnRPG Editor-in-Chief

 

 

Day 1 of PAX East. The calm before the weekend storm. I had assembled a crack team of veteran photographers and editorial writers including JamesBl0nde, Bowen, Ardua, and Leliah to take on PAX East by storm. We hit the ground running at 9am to bring all the coverage.

 

 

Before even getting into the building you could feel the excitement in the air. An obnoxious looking full body suit Teemo and sexy Janna looked on as an imposing Fiddlesticks bounded around on pogo stick leg attachments scaring anyone not paying attention. As usual League of Legends’ cosplayers draw first blood. Unfortunately Janna whirlwinded Bowen away and made her escape before we could get a closer look.

 

 

 

As we descended into the showroom floor we knew we were in for one hell of a show. Bethesda and Blizzard side by side at PAX? Yes please! My personal favorite Dungeon Defenders was showing off the sequel in all its glory in the distance. A huge Riot Games stage in the far corner displayed an endless array of changing skin icons as endless crowds gathered around creating obvious fire hazards. HoN stood just next to them with a slot machine offering fans chances to win all kinds of goodies. Heck even Xbox and Nintendo were out in force!

 

 

But of course it’s the Indie Mega Booth that truly makes PAX East and there is no shortage of talent in attendance this year. We managed to meet up with Gabriel of Mechanist Games to get an updated look at City of Steam and wow has it come a long way since Leliah’s earlier beta articles. If this is a game you’ve been following you won’t want to miss James and Gabriel chat it up in our upcoming gameplay demo showcasing all that’s new in this unique steampunk world!

 

 

There’s certainly a lot to see in the Indie section but we had to rush off for the big Blizzard reveal. What could it be? I know Merry had plenty to say earlier this week on OnRPG’s WoW Wednesday article but in the end none of us saw this coming.

 

 

A Warcraft iTCG? F2P Mobile Device? Yea Heroes of Warcraft – Hearthstone was not at all what we were expecting from Blizzard’s big appearance at PAX. But even so the game plays pretty well and offers a lot of strategic opportunities while still being really casual friendly in true Blizz style and I have no doubt the game is going to do incredibly well, especially among Warcraft junkies looking to get their fix while on the road.

 

An MMOHuts Fan Recognizes James. Celebrity Achievement Unlocked!

 

 

I finally met Ardua and Leliah in person. And what better place to do it than at Bethesda’s booth! And Ardua and Leliah were certainly in for a treat when none other than Matt Firor, Elder Scrolls Online’s Game Director, walked out of the press room to usher us in. Inside they were given a crash course in the Elder Scrolls Online combat system as well as got to test out the character customization in-depth. Keep an eye out for their article as well as mine on the new Dishonored DLC, Knife of Dunwall, which is sure to make enthusiasts of the title cringe in pain from its intense difficulty while leave you hooked with one of the most unique story telling opportunities imaginable.

 

Fans stand dumbstruck at Elder Scrolls Online trailers outside the booth.

 

The closest we can get to showing you what went on inside that sealed off cubicle.

 

 

After that it was off to the Riot Games booth for the most important coverage of all.. Ahri cosplay.

 

 

Charmed…

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately Bowen missed getting a shot of this Soraka’s incredibly impressive hoof shoes.

 

 

 

 

But instead of the regularly scheduled meeting I managed to get an inside track after talking to Riot Lyte (aka Mr. Tribunal) and snagged an upcoming interview with Lead Content Designer Morello on Sunday afternoon so don’t miss out as I drill him on the important questions such as why there are so many Akali cosplayers and hardly enough Janna cosplayers and what they intend to do to fix this imbalance of power.

 

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Next up it was on to the Red 5 Studios presentation and livestream on Twitch.tv and to be honest I had low expectations. I saw ‘free lunch’ and thought to myself ‘oh, is this not going to be interesting enough to get press to attend without a bribe?’ But thankfully the free lunch is just part of Red 5 Studios work hard and party harder mentality because what they had to show was a serious game changer.

 

 

Look out G4TV you sell out of a station you. Red 5 Studios is bringing indie back with their new Internet based station, Stage 5, featuring shows like the one shown above, cosplay shows, and various showcases of top notch Indie gaming teams from around the world. This is poetic justice that I applaud Red 5 Studios for taking the risk to make a reality. Beyond this FireFall received its biggest update ever yesterday and plenty more is on the way soon to completely change how this game feels and plays. It’s honestly going to take a dedicated write-up to explain all the awesome going on with this company but for those that can’t wait, I suggest you catch the replay of the livestream and see for yourself!

 

www.twitch.tv/r5studios/

 

Finally it was off to the Twitch.TV booth where we snagged some time with HiRez’s COO Todd Harris while I snuck off to collect a rather bulky pile of PAX 2013 Kali skins for an upcoming giveaway. Keep an eye out for our interview for details on how to enter for your chance to win this rare skin!

 

Deep respect for Bastet managing to wear those heels all day. Todd Harris slipped up and told us she was the Goddess of Whips which is pretty kinky.

 

 

All that would have qualified for a pretty good Friday of coverage… but we decided to push a bit further and go all-in on WildStar to finish the day off! Ardua and Leliah caught the community panel to get a briefer on the game while our video team caught the expert level tutorial courtesy of Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney. We have the entire demo recorded for your upcoming viewing pleasure but long story short, this game is designed to keep you entertained from start to finish!

 

 

From mutant vending machines that dynamically rain from the sky to regions of the world with lower gravity, you can expect the gameplay to be constantly changing as you venture through WildStar’s Planet Nexus. Gaffney expressed a rather unique problem they’ve been having with testers. There’s so much dynamic content going on at once that only the astute gamers even notice it all! And it’s such an odd mix of the unusual, the weird, and the serious that I couldn’t tell whether to keep my serious face going or break out in laughter as their driver took us through many various scenarios.

 

 

And then there’s the housing and what a glorious system it is. First off after purchasing your land, you have to then battle to control your land in a variety of ways, though the one in our demo involved trying to build a house on top of an ancient pet cemetery with hilarious results. Then once that’s settled, there’s placing the house, the anti-gravity bounce house, the hedge maze, the garden, the personal portal to your favorite raid dungeon complete with customizable buffs, the ceiling treasure, the mineral ore foundry, and of course, a white picket fence. Nearly everything you place has some kind of impact on gameplay that even the average player is going to care about. More cool stuff in your house? Better rest experience for you if you log off at home. Garden? Food for crafting. Mine? Minerals for crafting. Anti-Gravity bounce house? Anti-gravity bounce house (duh!).

 

 

And though it’s not currently implemented, they are looking into creating the options to allow permissions to let other players organize your house for those who want to hire a interior decorator on the auction house… or those who just have very overbearing girlfriends that demand your love nest be personalized to her liking. You’ll also be able to open your house to the public for special events or host smaller invite only parties at your discretion.

 

 

Oh and here’s a kicker that I guess just slipped by me for the last few weeks unnoticed. Those nasty goons from the Dominion faction that Carbine Studios has been releasing trailers introducing since February? Turns out that’s not just AI baddies. They are a playable faction! Which just brings so many new elements into gameplay I hadn’t even considered when we awarded this game our Most Anticipated 2013. And for those that doubted us on saying this game was going to make it by 2013.. let’s just say you might want to keep your eyes on your email box for NDA closed beta invites in the very near future.

 

 

That said the show is now underway and I need to rush to the WildStar booth to get some hands-on gameplay with the title and learn everything I can about the Dominion. My apologies to those expecting further coverage of big titty bunny girls (The Aurin to be politically correct) but the Dominion not only have revealed themselves as a playable faction but also have denied us access to the obviously inferior Exiles’ faction for the duration of PAX.

 

 

Keep an eye out for our Day 2 Recap featuring information on:

 

Smashmuck Champions

The Future of SOE

Wargaming’s Esports Plans

Final Fantasy Reborn

Heroes of Newerth

Hawken

Marvel Heroes

Civilization 5 – Brave New World

And a closer look at Red 5 Studios’ PAX announcements!

 

 

At that I leave you with Bowen’s personal cosplay picture collection:

 

I was wondering who this couple was for nearly a day until it hit me!

 

Pro…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PAX East Day 1 Preview – The Calm Before the Storm

 

 

 

It’s now one hour prior to the doors opening in Boston for the 2013 PAX East Convention! I’m in the scene (DizzyPW) leading the charge with Ardua, Leliah, JamesBl0nde, and Bowen (our largest convention content team ever!).

 

 

Today is kicking off with Blizzard’s early morning press reveal and Leliah and Ardua hitting up the Indie Mega Booth to get a look at The Repopulation and plenty of other surprises that really make PAX East so unique!

 

 

Next up Leliah and Ardua will be hitting the invite-only Bethesda booth to go hands on with The Elder Scrolls Online while I take a peak at the upcoming DLC for Dishonored.

 

 

Meanwhile James and Bowen will be meeting with HiRez’s Tod Harris to talk about what’s coming in their latest hit MOBA SMITE and snag some Kali keys for an upcoming giveaway! On the other end of the spectrum I’ll be covering what’s new with Riot Games’ League of Legends. Here’s hoping for an epic new PAX skin this year for more giveaways!

 

 

Then it’s onto the FireFall event that’s sure to change the game in a big way!

 

 

And then finally we get our MMOHuts First Look at Carbine Studio’s WildStar! Be sure to check back late tonight for a quick recap of the day’s events and keep an eye out for our upcoming editorial coverage at OnRPG and MMOHuts!

Elsword Transformation Closer Look: Rena and Raven

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), OnRPG Editor-in-Chief

 

 

It’s hard to believe it’s been 3 months since JamesBl0nde and I jumped into Kill3rCombo’s Elsword to test out the newly released third class available for Elsword and Aisha. But as the Elsword Team has kept on schedule (perhaps even ahead of schedule) on Transformation launches, we now have Rena’s Trapping Ranger and Raven’s Weapon Taker classes available in the US. As such I pulled some strings and got an introduction to these two classes from the Elsword team and a bit of an ass whooping from GM Skillz to get a taste for each character in PvE and PvP. Oh and for the record I’m a novice Elsword player that’s just a fast learner thanks to its similarities to Smash Brothers which I spent many hours (ok days) of my life learning. So take this as a noob’s first look and not an expert’s guide to these characters.

 

 

Raven’s Weapon Taker

I have to admit I’m not normally a lover of the melee classes in Elsword but Weapon Taker… I like. He has so many tricks up his sleeve and his skills are just insanely punishing that you never truly feel safe when facing one no matter where your location is. Think you can beat him with fast dodges and aerial combos? He can turn some of his skills into air attacks to take the fight right back to you.

 

 

Beyond this, he can utilize Giga Prominence (a localized series of fire explosions that erupt from the ground and reach decently high into the air) to blast away anything in his radius for absolutely insane damage. And just when you think you have his back up against the wall, his HellFire Gatling (a fan shaped assault of 40+ fireballs with long range) paints a large fan of death in the direction he’s facing while making him nearly impossible to interrupt. On a flat battlefield this skill might be one of the most devastating abilities ever unleashed, which is quite a statement to make about a mere first class upgrade for Raven. And while these two skills are balanced with long cooldowns and heavy mana costs, his Revolver Cannon (4 consecutive straight line rockets) offers a more cost efficient way to keep your enemy at bay while winding up for your next vicious combo.

 

 

But where Raven’s Weapon Taker form truly shines is his passive abilities and unique overheat power that when combined make him an excellent duelist that can hold his prey in place for horrific combos that can be amplified at the cost of your own HP if you really have your foe in your sights. Not only does he have various passives and buffs related to upping his magical damage to make the most of his ranged attacks, he also can unlock an awesome Z dash attack with Shadow Piercing that’s ideal for cutting your enemy’s special ability short. His Mercenary Behavior passive also reduces the effects of just about any CC or DoT you can throw at him while reducing the damage he takes when he Overheats his abilities. Talk about getting some serious bang for your skill points!

 

 

I highly recommend this class for players that can keep a cool head under fire and focus on the timing of Raven’s Soul Taker combo strikes. Utilizing Z Z Z X and Z Z Z -> X in particular allows you to deal continuous damage while getting a large evade/jump behind skill that will leave your PvP opponents dazed and PvE bosses swinging at air. His ranged low mana X attacks also allow you to keep rival melee fighters on their toes during skill cooldowns and punish ranged characters trying to zone you out. If you can master this while also biding your time and making full use of Raven’s Rage Core, you can plow through enemy special abilities and punish anyone that tries to stand their ground to fight you head-on.

 

 

Check out a highlight reel of GM Skillz showing me his moves with Raven’s Soul Taker:

 

 

 

Rena’s Trapping Ranger

What happens when naïve innocent high elves fall into the wrong crowd? Well for Rena besides getting an amazing yoga butt, she also gets her hands on the blessed blade Erendil to unlock one of the most varied, vicious, and unpredictable fighting styles in the Elsword world.

 

 

Rena’s Trapping Ranger is hands down a tactician’s dream character in Elsword. At range she can harass and interrupt her foes. In melee she can tear opponents down to size in rapid succession with the best of them. Her double jump mixed with impressive air dashes and long ranged Z attacks make her a mobile threat whether you’re below or above her on the battlefield.

 

 

As far as skills go Rena seems focused around controlling and cutting off her opponent’s movement until she reaches that ‘checkmate’ moment and goes in for the execution. Her Explosion Trap offers a quick arrow shot diagonally into the ground in front of her that gives her a nice buffer against speedy enemies that want to dash in and initiate. Those attempting to counter her should be weary that she packs plenty of passives to keep you on your foot for extended combos while she unleashes a barrage of Erendil strikes with a huge chance of landing critical strikes. She even has a wind powered kick that can reflect projectiles back at you! The Trapping Ranger can be quite unpredictable in style as well since her passives allow her to gain increased mastery of both physical and magical attacks, and even gain armor piercing arrow strikes.

 

 

But all of this is merely a façade to hide the true intention of Rena’s Trapping Ranger. Once she has you where she wants you, she can unleash Call of Ruin to fill your now limited safe zone with multiple spiked orbs or blow up the very ground beneath you with Karma, forcing you a huge distance away from her so that she can set up her minefield of arrows once more.

 

 

One last note on the Trapping Ranger. Never underestimate her and think you’ve won just because she’s on the verge of death. Fatality offers a  lightning fast straight line finisher skill with a chance of dealing 6,560% physical damage to any enemy struck. It can also do 1 damage or various other damages in between depending on luck. Still it’s best to approach quickly and stay airborn when possible when fighting a Trapping Ranger to make sure you never have to play Russian Roulette against Erendil.

 

 

Check out my much less one sided battle with GM Skillz in our Rena Trapping Ranger highlight reel:

 

 

 

Interested in checking out the game for yourself? Check ’em out at http://www.elswordonline.com/. And if you like what you see don’t forget to cast your vote to get them Greenlit on Steam!