Pathfinder MMO on the Way

Paizo has officially licensed the Pathfinder MMO Rights to Goblinworks.  Details about the game are still somewhat scarce but here is some info from the Goblinworks website...

Pathfinder Online takes place in the world of the award-winning Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, an industry-leading tabletop roleplaying game based on more than a decade of system development. The Pathfinder world includes elements inspired by classic and modern fantasy, from lost cities shrouded in misty jungles to decaying pyramids in deserts of burning sands to a fantastic island metropolis where folk from countless kingdoms live side by side with all manner of exotic creatures. If a player wants to tell a fantasy story, the world of Pathfinder has a place for it. (For more information on the world of Pathfinder and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, please visit paizo.com/pathfinder.)

Pathfinder Online is a hybrid sandbox/theme park-style MMO roleplaying game where characters explore, develop, and dominate the River Kingdoms, a treacherous no-man's-land of squabbling kingdoms on the edge of wilderness. Players explore, adventure, develop, and dominate their domains by playing fighters, rogues, wizards, or any of Pathfinder's many character types, or they can use the game's archetype system go beyond the standard options to create nearly any sort of character imaginable.

Pathfinder Online's robust trading system puts players in control of the world's economy with player-created items, consumables, fortifications, and settlements. Character-controlled settlements can grow into full-fledged kingdoms that compete for resources as they seek to become the dominant force in the land, raising vast armies to hold their territory against the depredations of monstrous creatures, NPC factions, and other player characters.

Social organizations scale from small parties of a few adventurers to player nations inhabited by thousands. As settlements develop, the surrounding wilderness develops more complex and challenging features, including randomly generated encounters and resources as well as exciting scripted adventures.

The design process for Pathfinder Online has only just begun, and there is plenty of opportunity for gamers to get in on the ground floor of this exciting new project. Paizo and Goblinworks are committed to soliciting player feedback about the Pathfinder Online project, and will track the game's development here at goblinworks.com. Add your email address in the box on this page to receive regular updates on the Pathfinder Online project!

Early indications seem to be that we are looking at another World of Warcraft clone that can't hope to compete against the juggernaut that inspired it, but we'll see.   I wish Paizo and Goblinworks luck.  Even if I don't like MMOs and don't think this game will be very good, I would like to see them succeed. 

Hell it's not like it could be much worse than the piece of shit that was the Dungeons and Dragons MMO...

All Time Greatest MMO Dick Moves

Not everyone who plays in a Massive Multiplayer Online game like World of Warcraft or EVE is a dick, but a lot of them are.  The feeling of being surrounded by assholes while playing an MMO is compounded by hearing tales of epic douchebagery.  Recently Cracked.com set out to compile a list of the 7 Biggest Dick Moves in the History of Online Gaming.  

Not only is it an interesting read, but managing to narrow down the list to only seven is a feat I would have previously thought impossible. 

Heroes of Neverwinter: New D&D Game Coming to Facebook

Atari is working on a new game called Heroes of Neverwinter, but unlike most games that they produce this one won't be for console, it'll be for Facebook.  They are working on the game with Liquid Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast and aim for a summer release, though they haven't confirmed an actual date yet.

As far as actual game play here is a description:

Heroes of Neverwinter is a turn-based multiplayer role-playing game where players customize a character and then recruit other characters to form an adventuring party. This party ventures into dungeons to kill monsters and collect items from chests, which can then be used to upgrade the character’s combat statistics or to buy new items and equipment for their character. Like EA2D’s Dragon Age Legends, Heroes of Neverwinter also encourages players to recruit friends’ characters to their party, which creates unique social interactions as players “shop” among their friends for those with the ideal character class and level to make up the best possible party.

The full article can be read here. 

I can tell you that I won't play this game.  I'm not big with Facebook and have never played a single Facebook game, but I'm sure there are D&D players who have and will appreciate this game.  It's good at least to see D&D stay relevant with the changes in technology in video games.  For those of you who love Facebook and D&D, keep an eye out this summer because this is a match made in heaven for you. 

Mortal Kombat Legacy Web Series Begins

Last June a trailer came out of nowhere for something called, "Mortal Kombat: Rebirth."  At first no one knew what the heck it was about and speculation ran rampant that it was the trailer for a new movie, a new game, or even a television series.  As it turned out none of those were true.  The truth was that it was a pitch to Warner Brothers to make a new MK movie made by would be director of the movie, Kevin Tancharoen.  Ironically it was Tanchareon himself accidently leaked the video, which was never meant to be seen by the public, on YouTube where it blew up, reaching fans around the globe and impressing people over at Warner Bros. 

While he didn't get to make his movie the studio did authorize Tanchareon to make a nine episode web series based on his ideas called Mortal Kombat: Legacy.  Yesterday the series released of its first episode.  Long time fans of Mortal Kombat may notice a good deal of changes, but the response so far has been overwhelmingly positive.  Have a look and decide for yourself!

Co-Op Classics Takes a Look Back at Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance

 

Co-Optimus, the best (and sadly one of the few) sites dedicated to cooperative video games takes a look back from time to time at classic Cooperative games of the past.  In honor of the newest upcoming Dungeons & Dragons video games, Daggerdale, Co-Optimus takes an opportunity to remember Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance. 

The retro-review was pretty favorable.  The writer remembers both the first Dark Alliance and it's sequel fondly, particularly for it's co-op mode.  I admit myself not overly fond of Dark Alliance.  I saw it as a Diablo Clone, and not a particularly good one.  Still, I had fun playing it with friends.  As these D&D beaters went I thought Dungeons & Dragons Heroes was better.  It allowed for four player action rather than just the two allowed in Dark Alliance, something not to be sneezed at. 

Friday Videos: Dungeons and Dragons Video Games

Recently we looked ahead to the newest D&D video game that is being released, Daggerdale.  So today I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the Dungeons and Dragons video games that have been released to date.  Fortunately GameTrailers.com did a great video a while back that serves as the perfect link in this edition of Friday Videos.  Though the video is a bit dated (it was released right before Dungeons and Dragons Online it does a great job of looking back at how D&D has helped shape the video game industry. 

Video Games | D&D: Stormreach | D&D Retrospective

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Nintendo Wii | PC Games

New Dungeons & Dragons Video Game

The new Dungeons & Dragons video game, Daggerdale, isn't nearly as ambitious or impressive as many previous efforts.  That might surpise, shock, and of offend many of you, but that's more objective assesment than anything else. 

The fact of the matter is that this new D&D game doesn't reach very far by design.  It isn't intended for a big in store release like many of today's hottest tittles, but rather is opting for an economical online release.  Instead of looking for it at Gamestop look for it instead on Xbox Live.  The game, which will also be available for PS3 and PC, will encompass approximately 10 hours of game play.  The price tag is a very manageable $10 so that alone may interest some who would otherwise be priced out of the game. 

Daggerdale will be available sometimes this spring.

Dragon Age Redeption Trailer with Felicia Day

The release of BioWare's Dragon Age II is almost upon us.  To help tide us over the last few weeks until its release they gave us the trailer for Dragon Age Redemption.  Due out later this year, Dragon Age Redemption stars Queen of the Geeks, Felicia Day.

From the Official Site:

In Dragon Age: Redemption, Day stars as Tallis, an Elven assassin hired by the Qunari to capture a rogue mage intent on wreaking havoc throughout the world. In her quest to find this dangerous mage, Tallis is joined by other companions who are not always aligned in their beliefs and goals, but who band together to defeat their foe, in an attempt to restore peace and balance to this dark fantasy universe.

Not a lot of footage, but it's a teaser so that's not much of a surprise.  Looks cool though and I'm looking forward to it. 

There is no release date yet, but rumors say sometime in August. 

Dragon Age Series Starring Felcia Day

Dragon Age was a great game with a great setting.  It produced a couple of great videos that caused us here at the Labyrinth to question why couldn't the D&D movie have been that good? Well now they be showing us once again what they can do on film by creating a web based miniseries written and starring Felicia Day.  Day, known for her work on the amazing web series, The Guild, will be bringing a lot to the table on this project, not the least of which is her passion for video games, and her familiarity with Dragon Age in particular. 

Oh, and she stars as a hot Elven Assassin. 

I'm in! 

The miniseries will be called Dragon Age Redemption and will air sometime later this year.  

This is a great move by Bioware in my opinion.  Felicia Day has a great reputation among games for more than just her good looks.  She brings a very real passion to her projects.  Add to that her web series cred from the Guild and you have a built in winner.  This will really grow Dragon Age's reputation and will certainly bring in new fans to the series.  

Since Dragon Age II is set to be released in March my only guess is that we will see the web series release coincide with the first expansion.

I'm pretty excited, but it also gets me thinking...  With great online series like The Guild, JourneyQuest, Gold, and now Dragon Age Redemption is it just me or are good online shows starting to outnumber good shows on traditional television?

Red Dead Disapointmnet?

 Like many videogame fans I was eagerly anticipating Rockstar Games' new sandbox western, Red Dead Redemption.  The game was highly touted by critics and had visuals that put me in mind of my favorite Western RPG, Aces & Eights.  I have always enjoyed Rockstars' flagship tittle, Grand Theft Auto, getting plenty of playing time with GTA 4, even going back to it for a time after having finished it.

All this adds up to a mad rush on the 18th to go get the game at the store.  I was lucky enough to secure a copy and headed home right away to give the game a whirl.  At first it was great, just as advertised.  But something odd happened while playing the game, I stopped liking it.  Now that's not to say that I hated it, but even before I was done with the game I was tired of it.  I only did the main quests for the most part and the game was only about 22 hours long, but I'd say about half way through I just wished it would end.

How did it fall so fast?  I have some theories.  The first is that I played too much GTA and RDR is more of the same.  At time it can almost feel like you are playing GTA 4, and I don't mean that in a good way.  The physics engine is called on to handle a lot but is very glitchy.  Some of these are minor and some make you want to tear your hair out.  Like GTA RDR isn't a shooter, at least not a good one.  As I feel a western should be more about gunfights I really wish this aspect of the game would have been improved.  Unlike GTA the voice acting in this game is not great.  In fact, some of it is downright bad.  The characters themselves are, for the most part, no better.  Some are funny, but that's about it.  The main character himself is a terribly dull character, lacking the charm of a repentant hero that Clint Eastwood portrayed in Unforgiven.  The story is also pretty bad, and very boring.  It wouldn't be so bad if you could skip to the action, but for hours on end you will be called to ride next to whoever gave you the quest and listen to bad dialog that you can't skip.

While this piece focuses on the negative aspects of the game, those that caused me to be disappointed by it, I will say it isn't a bad game.  All the classic Western elements can be found; wagon chases, train robberies, holdups at gunpoint, shootouts, duels andhttp://www.kenzerco.com/aces_n_eights/ high noon, and all the other great stuff you would expect in a western.  Unfortunately my expectation for this game couldn't be higher, had I tempered them perhaps my opinion would have been different.

My advice to you is twofold... First, temper you expectations.  Second, rent the game. 

Nightmare, Dragonstrike... Oh and Dr. Horrible too

Gamers love game, and not just tabletop RPGs. As a kid I wasn't aloud to play D&D once my Mom found out (that is actually a true story) so often my group would look to board games and video games to fill the void.

Probably my all time favorite board game is Dragonstrike. Now many of you doubtless have never heard of it, and those you have are probably laughing hysterically right now. To the former, please educate yourselves on a classic, and for the latter please understand that it was the closest to actual D&D we were allowed to engage in.  The game is more of lesss a simplified version of D&D in board game form, and it came with a video that I watched constantly.  In retrospect this game was actually a great springboard into D&D and my group had countless hours of fun playing the game.  I love the game (and the video) so much that I included the Sunstone adventure in a recent campaign I ran. 

Want some third party evidence of just how amazing this game is?  Well you recall everyone in the Gaming community going bonkers (and rightly so!) over The Ultimate Game Room?  Well I'd like to draw your attention to exhibit A.

That's right!  The Ultimate Game Room was not content with a mere ONE copy of Dragonstrike, it had to have TWO.   You say you're still not convinced, you say you want more.  Well folks here is exhibit B, the video that went with Dragonstrike.




Ok, this video is really terrible. But to a young lad it was once the coolest thing in the world.

Though Dragonstike is my all time favorite board game, my single favorite board game experience actually came while playing a game of Nightmare with my older brother and my parents. Nightmare was released in 1991 and was a horror based board game that relied on a video to play. The video had the timer for the game as well as a character who ran the game for all the players, a sort of video GM. Now I have played many different versions of Nightmare, and each expansion has a different character acting as GM, but none compare to the original, The Gatekeeper.

Just as none can compare to the original video guide, nothing could ever compare to that first time playing the game.  It was nearly impossible to get my Dad to play board games of any sort, I'm still not sure why.  He loved video games, especially sports video games, but I could never get him to play Dragonstike with us once.  Anyway my Mom must have blackmailed him or something because he was there and sat down with the rest of us to play the game.  My mom shut off all the lights, and lit some candles to create a spooky environment (she loves Horror movies) and we all sat down to play the game. 

Though Nightmare isn't a cooprative give, it managed to create a real sense that it was us (The "Maggots") against the Gatekeeper.  We were cheering each other on when things were going well, and lamenting "our" bad luck when something bad happened or the Gatekeeper screwed us over.  The game lasts exactly one hour, that is how much time someone has to win before its over and you all lose.  Well this particular game went down to the wire.  My dad got all his keys and reached the center of the board with about 3-5 seconds left.  We were all screaming at him to get up and shut the tape off (The final step to end the game).  He tripped over the couch and dove to shut the VCR off.

It was epic.

I don't think I'll ever have a board game experience that amazing ever again, but it does show how much fun they can be.  To give those of you a tase of the game, and its immortal character, the Gatekeeper, here is a highlight real.



Finally, at the time I was playing Dragonstike and Nightmare I also loved playing video games.  I was never a huge Sega fan, but I loved Nintendo.  8-bit games still have a special place in my heart.  For that reason I was pretty entertained when Revil sent me the link to a video of a Dr. Horrible Sing Along Blog 8-bit Video game.  If you love Dr. Horrible and/or old school Nintendo games you should check it out.

Marching On

The pain of the superbowl is finally starting to subside... ok not really, but it's time to move on to better things.  To that end I have attempted to fix the crappy dungeon map I attempted, resumed work on my Caliburn game, and rented BioShock 2.

 

Let's start with BioShock 2 as this will, like the game itself, be brief.  I know this isn't necessarily an RPG, but I know many of our readers are also video game players and I think they need to hear this.   I picked BioShock2 up on Tuesday, it's release date. I finished it on Wednesday.  Yeah.  

Now the first one wasn't my favorite game of all time, but it was entertaining and I figured since the first one was such a success and since they took forever to release the sequal that we would see all kind of improvements.  I was wrong.  Two is much the same as One.  It has a different story, obviously, but it isn't even as good as the first one.  But that isn't my main problem with the game.  My main problem is that I got it for the campaign (I don't have Xbox Live) and the campaign lasted for all of TEN HOURS.  Now I should tell you that I rent games from Blockbuster on their freedom pass, so I didn't shell out 60 bucks for this thing, and can only imagin how ripped off I would feel if I had.  While I didn't complete all the achievments in the game (I never found all 14 weapon upgrades) I did find and deal with every single little sister in the game.  I researched every plasmid.  I even opened every tonic slot.  I was pretty thourough, though not overly so.  Yet all that netted was 10 hours.  Disgraceful.  If you plan on picking up BioShock 2 for the multiplayer then fine, since I don't have XLive I couldn't even see what the Multiplayer menu incorpartated.  It could be great... Maybe that is where 2 years and millions and millions of dollars went.  But if you plan on getting the game for the campaign here is my suggestion, DON'T.  Either that or rent it like I did.  Trust me you won't be charged a late fee on this one.  

The good news is that since I've taken longer bathroom trips than BioShock 2 I was able to resume work on my Caliburn game.  Continuing to put off a final version of the map I decided to pick up working on character creation.  Part of the character creation process won't involve the player's characters at all.  Before they can get to that they must design the noble house to which they are apart or serve.  

To do this I am modifiing the ASIF RPG's House creation system.  Green Ronin did an amazing job with this innovative feature that let's the players design the House themselves from the ground up.  By making the house themselves the players feel a sense of ownership with the game and the setting, a sense of comradery with one another, and an investment in key NPCs who also serve the house.  

In creating a House I am giving the players the choice of which of the fifteen Kings of Caliburn they want to serve.  Choosing a Kind is about more than which banner looks cool.  Each Kingdom grants certain bonuses and penalties to the House's statistics (a feature that is built into the the ASIF RPG House creation system), grants a special bonus and liability, and has a completley different setting and story.  The goal is that the players are just as invested in the game, and have nearly as much control in shaping the outcome, as the GM.   Typically I run a more structured, plot driven game, but this game is more about everyone playing a role in shaping the story.  So if the players want to focus on political intrigue they will likely serve Cador Von Draken of Albion.  But if they wanted to focus more on exploration then they would choose to serve one of the Frontier Kings of a more remote region.  

Above is a preview of one of the quick reference pages in the House creation chapter of the players book.  Obviously it isn't finished and formatting is still a work in progress.  I'm using Indesign, and it isn't all that easy to use.