Yearly Archives: 2014

Neverwinter: Siege of Neverwinter Event Interview

By Jaime Skelton (MissyS), Senior Editor

Answers from Brian Gilmore, Game Designer

Can you start by introducing a little of the backstory that has triggered this event in Neverwinter?

The heroes of Neverwinter have actually been playing through the events that lead to the siege in our new Tyranny of Dragons campaign. The Cult of the Dragon has changed, turning from a shadowy conspiracy of madmen into a much larger and more dangerous force. However, their plans are constantly being thwarted by adventurers based in the city of Neverwinter. To counter this threat, the Cult has mobilized an army to conquer the Jewel of the North so their evil schemes can continue unopposed.

Neverwinter Siege Scenic

This event, of course, is going to feature dragons. Can you offer us a teaser of one of these beasts that players will encounter?

Our players have been fighting a number of dragons in the Tyranny of Dragons Campaign, but there’s one type of chromatic dragon they have not encountered yet in the open world: the fearsome Red Dragon. In their attempt to take the city, the Cult has called in several of these mighty beasts to rain flaming destruction down on the battlefield. Akregon the Pyre and Phlagethax the Cremator will both join the other dragons to challenge the heroes of Neverwinter on the Siege Battlefield.

Neverwinter Siege Battle

Since the city is coming under siege, will players be confronted directly with the event when it starts?

I’m going to go a little behind the scenes here. Whenever we do an event like this, we have to ask ourselves just how much impact we want it to have on the world at large while the event is running. We could over-run the whole city with bad guys and have fighting in the streets, but the problem with that approach is it forces all players to engage with the event, even if they don’t want to. It’s a tradeoff between immersion in the world, and our players’ ability to choose how they play the game. With our Siege event, we’re leaning more towards the latter. So, while the sky may be dark and rubble lies in the street as buildings burn, you can go to the marketplace in the main hub without getting jumped. If you want to join the battle, you can head to the Siege Battlefield zone to fight the Cult of the Dragon’s army.

Neverwinter Siege Strike

Will all players be able to participate?

Neverwinter will need the help of all of its heroes in this time of need. We’re using our level-adjusting technology so that any character of level 4 or higher can participate. So basically, you can have a character jump in right after completing the tutorial. We thought about setting the cap higher, but the way we see it, it’s frustrating to see a big event going on and not be able to participate. So, we decided to open the event to players of all levels, just like our summer or winter events. Only this one happens to involve dragons, catapults, and mass battles with armies of cultists.

The event will include two new Heroic encounters, which were just introduced in the Tyranny of Dragons expansion. Can you explain how these will work for those who may just now be returning to Neverwinter?

Heroic Encounters are open-world quests that multiple players can freely help to complete. Players who fight in an Heroic Encounter will automatically receive special rewards for their valor, so there’s always a reason to jump in.

During the Siege of Neverwinter, we’ll have several new heroic encounters for adventurers to join, from defending a breach in the city’s walls, to destroying catapults as they hurl boulders at the city, to slaying an attacking dragon.

Neverwinter Siege Black Dragon

You’ve also mentioned a Siege Battlefield area. Would you elaborate on what this area is, and what players will find there?

The Siege Battlefield is where the action of the siege takes place, and is its own map which will only be open during the Siege of Neverwinter event. The army of the Cult of the Dragon has torn a breach in the city’s outer wall, and now are focusing their forces there, hoping to fight their way into the city proper. General Sabine, the Neverwinter Guard, and the city’s heroes are all that stand in their way. Players will have to help defend the walls, destroy the cult’s siege engines, join the Neverwinter Guard in mass battle, and fend off dragon attacks.

Neverwinter Siege Green Dragon

Will the event result in any permanent changes to the world?

If the Cult of the Dragon can’t destroy Neverwinter, they’ll have to take more desperate measures. But to say any more would be telling.

What will the coolest rewards be in the event?

I think a lot of people are going to love the Champion’s Battle Horn, a wondrous magical item which will help you reach the fight and survive it by granting temporary hit points and a pre-combat speed boost. But my favorite might be the Injured Survivor’s outfit, a fashion set with dented armor, bandaged limbs, and even a few arrows still stuck in you. It shows you didn’t just see the fight, you lived to tell the tale.

 

The Siege of Neverwinter Event will run September 18 through September 25. You can find more info here.

ESL brings esports to San Jose’s SAP Center with Intel Extreme Masters

ESL

ESL, the world’s leading independent esports brand, will bring Intel Extreme Masters to the largest sports venue in its history. Housed in the SAP Center, home to the NHL’s San Jose Sharks, the event is set to host League of Legends and StarCraft® II: Heart of the Swarm competitions on December 6-7, 2014. Adding a global spotlight, this landmark event will be live streamed on Twitch.

San Jose will act as the seventh Intel Extreme Masters tournament in the US since the tour started in 2006 and the first ever standalone event in North America. As such, it will be a milestone for both ESL and the gaming community.

It is a massive challenge and a massive opportunity for us. This is the new frontier,” says Michal Blicharz, Managing Director Pro Gaming at ESL. “We are the first independent esports content creators to run an event of this scale inside a US sports stadium. It’s a chance for gaming fans to prove that their hobby belongs in the spotlight.”

The SAP Center in San Jose regularly plays host to Olympic athletes and Grammy award-winners, boasting over 150 events a year. For the first time in the venue’s history it will fuse the sports and entertainment events it is used to, into one: Intel Extreme Masters San Jose. With a capacity of over 18,000, the venue is set to welcome one of the largest esports events in North America.

SAP Center at San Jose continually looks to add new and exciting entertainment options to our event schedule that appeal to a variety of fans both locally and on a national and international level,” said Jim Goddard, Executive Vice President of Business & Building Operations, SAP Center in San Jose. “We are pleased to be working with ESL and Intel to bring Intel Extreme Masters to the Bay Area, an area known for its contributions to the gaming industry and an area that is home to many top gamers and video game enthusiasts. We look forward to hosting a successful and entertaining event in December.”

The tournament in San Jose will also be a milestone for Intel whose headquarters are a short drive away from the SAP Center. Intel has been a title sponsor for the Intel Extreme Masters for nine years.

When we started this sponsorship in 2006 it was an investment with the hope that gaming would some day reach the size it is today,” says George Woo, Event and Sponsorship Programs Manager at Intel. “It feels fantastic to see it pay off and to be able to showcase Intel Extreme Masters on this scale so close to our headquarters in Santa Clara.”

Ensuring a global audience, the event will be broadcast on Twitch, the world’s leading live video platform and community for gamers. ESL estimates the event will attract 4.5 million viewers online.

There is no greater example of the rise of esports in the US than the proliferation of stadium-hosted events,” said Kevin Lin, COO, Twitch. “With the Intel Extreme Masters at SAP Center being one of many for ESL this year, esports have officially arrived, with Twitch providing a window into this phenomenon on a worldwide scale.”

For more information please visit the official tournament website at www.intelextrememasters.com or ESL’s online news portal at www.eslgaming.com.

Skyforge: New PvP Details Available

Skyforge

My.com have today revealed the details of PvP battles and the new system adopted to ensure players enjoy a fair fight when squaring off in combat.

“With PvP in Skyforge, our goal was to make the fights fair and to only allow players to fight in designated areas. This means it will be almost impossible to gank someone and we can rely on the matchmaking system to keep “noobs” from ending up face to face with PvP masters.”

Players will be able to participate in a ton of match types, game modes and more, each designed to test their skills in a fair and balanced environment.

For more details, visit http://sf.my.com/us/news/announcements/fighting-fair-pvp-skyforge

Legend of Master Online: New Mobile MORPG Available

Legend of Master

GAMEVIL has launched Legend of Master Online, an online action role-playing game that combines PC-quality graphics and a real-time network with the convenience and portability of a mobile platform.

As an online RPG, Legend of Master Online not only has 3D HD graphics that make for dynamic dungeon battle sequences, but also features real-time gameplay modes and rankings. The PvP mode allows players to fight in duels or with teams of three, while the co-op or Party Play mode lets two to three players join together to defeat colossal monsters and acquire rare items.

In Legend of Master Online, players can choose to defeat demons as characters like the contact-fighting Guardian, spell-binding Sorceress, or distance-shooting Ranger. Each character has thirteen distinctive skills that can be upgraded up to ten times through the game’s unique Talent System, allowing players to distribute Talent Points among their characters in customized combinations. Because of the wide range of possible skills and levels of skills, the same characters can have different combat styles, resulting in thrilling and unpredictable battle outcomes every time.

Legend of Master Online is available worldwide on Google Play today and will be available on App Store later this fall.

Legend of Master Online on Google Play: http://bit.ly/LOMOGooglePlay
Legend of Master Online on Facebook: http://bit.ly/LOMOFacebook

For more info, visit http://www.gamevil.com/

TuG: New updates and features available

TuG

After a successful Kickstarter campaign, and recently opening the doors to its massive open-world for adventurers to get a head-start with Steam Early Access, Nerd Kingdom is pleased to announce a slew of recent updates to its ambitious voxel-based sandbox RPG, TUG (The Untitled Game).

Gamers who purchase the game early via Steam Early Access (http://store.steampowered.com/app/277930/) will now find the vast and customizable world of TUG inhabited by the first predatory NPCs in the game – the Sabertooth Cat. In addition, Nerd Kingdom has also added the Apothecary, Metallurgy, and Alchemy systems to TUG with several early recipes, allowing Seedlings to create their own potions, gather ore, and craft items such as bellows, furnace, the alchemy table, and much more.

Watch the latest TUG development update video here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImNac0IKmAo

“Being able to actually build a game and an engine with a community is overwhelmingly rad. Getting insights from mapmakers, modders, YouTubers, and gamers themselves help us focus on parts of the game and technology that will have the biggest impact and encourage the most experimentation and play from the community,” said Peter Salinas, a behavioral scientist with Nerd Kingdom and developer for TUG. “This update is the result of so much of that dialog, and we are always anxious to engage in more geek-outs to see what things we can do next. So long as this project has a growing community, we will have a growing team supporting it.”

Other additions and fixes in this update include:

  • More items to experiment and craft with, including pumpkin shells, cauldrons, and gourds
  • Labels added to all in-game objects
  • Durability for each item, as well as differing damages for tools based on durability
  • Ability to break down tools for resources
  • Adjusted drop rate for trees and rocks
  • Various improvements and bug fixes

For a complete list of all updates, click here:  http://nerdkingdomofficial.tumblr.com/post/97660697413/tug-update-alpha-0-6-5