MMO Clerks

In Paragon City, the living embodiment of what it means to be a superhero is Statesman. And it’s hard to argue with that — he’s a combination of Superman and Captain America in one superhuman package, the apex of what a hero can aspire to be. But in the upcoming City of Heroes expansion, Going Rogue, the man behind the mask took a very different turn. Tyrant is neither villain nor hero, but a dictator whose rule over a parallel Earth is absolute. He has created a utopian, flawless world, held in place by his strength of arms and of will. And to no great surprise, he’s received a full writeup on the official City of Heroes page for the upcoming expansion.

Tyrant’s timeline is a far darker one than took place in the real world, including the deployment of nuclear weapons in the Korean War and a full-scale onslaught of enraged elementals. His full biography traces an alternate history in a way that at least provides a glimpse into the mind of someone who chose to enforce world peace through absolute control, highlighting many of the moral gray areas on display in Going Rogue. Read the full dossier here, and perhaps start designing a Justice Lord costume for your favorite hero.

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Expansions, Lore, Previews

City of Heroes unveils the full biography of Tyrant originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well. I badly underestimated the participation and interest in a Kotaku photoshopping contest, and as such, we need to make a few changes to accommodate everyone in the future. But first, a roundup…

Evil, the first time through, says Mark Meer, the voice of (the male) Commander Shepard in Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. But then he gets his act together.
“I generally play evil on my first…

Once again, The Onion cuts to the chase: Lane Kiffin, the new football coach at Southern California is rumored* to have been wooed away from the job by the chance of a lifetime: Working at a…

2K Sports’ baseball franchise, maybe more than any other sports title, will have this year’s title judged against and compared to last year’s offering, and not for its good qualities.

It’s hard to…

Filed under: Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Neo Steam

One of the many new free-to-play games launched last year, Neo Steam kind of got lost in the shuffle among several other contenders, but that hasn’t stopped it from gaining a following. Plus, it’s about as close as you’re going to get for the time being to a true steampunk MMO, which is something that’s going to vary in importance depending on how much players like things that are awesome. We’ve recently gotten word on a major content update for the game, featuring the last-known source of the eponymous Neo Steam that fuels much of the game’s technology: Rope Isle.

Covered in jungle and active volcanoes, Rope Isle would be a fairly easy romp toward the precious steam if not for the fact that the island already has inhabitants who aren’t pleased with the idea of anyone else coming in. Since they’re unlikely to respond to a reasonable discussion about the demands of industrialized economy, Neo Steam players can expect to be pitted against a difficult battle. The update will also increase the level cap to 70 and two new battlefields, to help hone players and improve their skills for the dangerous island.

Neo Steam versus the volcano originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Uber Entertainment probably can’t put it that way – ESPN has a legal division after all – but I can. Uber’s sent along three exclusive screens of the classes in its upcoming class-based shooter…

The first free expansion for Alganon, titled “The Dawning,” has been getting a fair bit of talk from Quest Online. They’ve been a bit longer on talk than on details, however, leaving us largely to guess what it might contain aside from promises of new dungeons and large changes to the game world. Some of the silence has been broken now, however, with Systems Designer Josef Shindler breaking word on several upcoming class balance changes in the game. The most recent small patch contained a number of small class tweaks, but there are more extensive changes for everyone in the future.

Mages are currently in the best place, from the design team’s perspective, but there are plans to allow characters specializing in one type of damage to branch out to other elements without sacrificing damage. Healers are also going to see some changes to damage, as their focus on one element makes them susceptible to enemies who are strong against it. Meanwhile, Rangers will see an extensive overhaul in terms of damage buffs and their operation in groups, and Soldiers will see several tweaks to their Anger generation to make its buildup and release more strategic. While it’s not a great deal of information, it’s good to see the design team keeping themselves hard at work on improving Alganon’s overall class balance.

Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Expansions, Previews, Alganon

Alganon gives preview of class updates with first expansion originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 23 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Maybe you noticed Vancouver 2010, the official title for the Winter Olympics, released last week. But more than VIII Olympiads since the Activision Decathlon and the Epyx Summer Games, the Olympics…

Much like it did for Halo 3, Bungie is running a contest to get a fan-designed unit emblem in the game. The contest opened yesterday and will run through Feb. 5.
Bungie’s rules are pretty…