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Latest General News Headlines:Mysteries of Westgate End of May Release? - May 7, 2008, 5:35 pm by Dalveen Neverwinter Nights CEP v2.1 Released - May 6, 2008, 11:13 pm by Fairie Ray Muzyka of Bioware Interview by The Guardian - May 5, 2008, 10:37 pm by Dalveen SP Happenings #188 - May 4, 2008, 9:27 pm by Taluntain Weekly Wizards of the Coast News Round-up - May 4, 2008, 5:33 pm by Taluntain Interview with Ossian Studios about Mysteries of Westgate - May 4, 2008, 4:54 pm by Dalveen Mysteries of Westgate Spotlight #9 - May 3, 2008, 11:06 am by Cap'n CJ Game Over? - May 2, 2008, 4:39 pm by Cap'n CJ Neverwinter Nights Podcast #53 - May 2, 2008, 4:25 pm by Cap'n CJ Blizzard Purchase diablo3.com, Diablo 3 on Its Way? - May 1, 2008, 4:57 pm by Dalveen Latest Active Threads on Boards o' Magick:
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Mysteries of Westgate End of May Release? Posted: May 7, 2008, 5:35 pm by Dalveen  A recent blog of Alazander's suggests that the much anticipated Mysteries of Westgate will be released near the end of May.Here is the paragraph: Two more spotlights have been posted recently: Rinara's Travel Guide and The Rise of the Ebon Claws. The tenth spotlight is due soon and it'll be the last: we've pretty much run out of material, and the game will, fingers crossed, be released later this month. There's a MoW press conference in LA in the next couple of days, and I expect things to ramp up then in preparation for release. Hopefully we'll see a few reviews from the major gaming sites over the next couple of weeks. You can read his full blog post here. [Add/Comments: 2] - [View Comments/Permalink] - [Top] Posted: May 6, 2008, 11:13 pm by Fairie  In anticipation of the release of 1.69 patch, the CEP Team has released CEP 2.1. Chock full of goodies, including but not limited to the Social Pheno work by Tom Banjo. New placeables, clothing, creatures, scripts, this is a major update. Saddle up horses and ponies alike, and rest assured that the code from the CEP horses and the Bioware riding systems work in unison. The CEP Team wanted to make sure folks were able to incorporate this in preparation for the 1.69 release. We'd like to thank them for all their hard work and for making this available to the community.Read the full article here and more information on the hack can be found here. [Add/Comments: 2] - [View Comments/Permalink] - [Top] Posted: May 5, 2008, 10:37 pm by Dalveen  One of the co-founders of Bioware, Ray Muzyka, has recently been interviewed at The Guardian Newspaper about how he started the company, and how his previous training as a medical student has helped him.Here's a section: Three years later, they decided to set up their own development studio. "One day we were having lunch and I just said, 'hey wouldn't it be fun to make a game?' and Greg says, 'yeah, I know some guys who are good programmers, let's hire them'. The next day we incorporated a company, combined all our savings, maxed out our credit cards and launched into this… very interesting endeavour." The result was Bioware, now one of the top ten most important videogame studios in the world according to Game Developer magazine. Last year, the team released Mass Effect on Xbox 360, an epic space RPG considered - alongside the likes of Bioshock and Super Mario Galaxy - as one of the games of 2007. It is about to be released, in enhanced form, on PC. Oddly perhaps, Muzyka (pictured) is certain part of this success is down to the co-founders' experiences in medicine. You can read the interview at the Guardian. [Add/Comments: 1] - [View Comments/Permalink] - [Top] Posted: May 4, 2008, 9:27 pm by Taluntain  We've had another recruit join the news team recently, so clap your hands for Dalveen! All of our recent news reinforcements have been doing a very good job and I can only hope that they keep it up and earn all those perks that come with being on the team.A couple of days later than anticipated, but solely due to the delay on the software developer's part, I've upgraded our message boards to the latest available version, which has brought many significant changes and improvements. The main new features are members' social profiles, profile customisation, picture albums, social groups and much more. The upgrade thread in Sorcerous Sundries has the full details. While all the new features are freely available for everyone's use, the SPS account holders will be interested in learning that their contributions enable me to allow them to upload pictures with larger dimensions and size, and twice as many as non-SPS account holders. SPS account holders are now also able to upload an animated (gif) profile picture. The board upgrade has been keeping me busy for the better part of this week, but I'm far from done yet, so keep an eye out for things to come in the following weeks. If you've been away from our community for a while, or haven't joined us yet, now would be a great time to get involved (again)! » Previous SPH [Add/Comments: 0] - [View Comments/Permalink] - [Top] Posted: May 4, 2008, 5:33 pm by Taluntain  » 4th Edition Excerpts: Racial Benefits» 4th Edition Excerpts: Swordwings » D&D 4th Edition Game System License FAQ » 4th Edition Excerpts: Multiclassing » Dungeoncraft: The Campaign Arc » Vicious Venues - The Grotto of Whispers » Ampersand: Traveling Show » Spotlight -- Halfling Paladin » Spotlight -- Emerald Orb Wizard » 4th Edition Excerpts: Angels » Epic Destinies in D&D 3.5 Novels » The Sellsword on Sale (Forgotten Realms) » Shadowmoor Available (Forgotten Realms) [Add/Comments: 0] - [View Comments/Permalink] - [Top] Posted: May 4, 2008, 4:54 pm by Dalveen The website Theives-Guild.net have recently inteviewed Alan Miranda and Brian Dunn of Ossian Studios about their latest highly anticiapted release for Neverwinter Nights 2, Mysteries of Westagte.Here is a snippet: * Will the game be played entirely within the confines of Westgate or will the party travel to locales outside of the city? If the latter, where? Alan: The game mostly takes place within the walls of Westgate, however, there are a couple of exceptions where the player leaves for a short time. You’ve probably seen the ingame movies we’ve released with the quelzarn attack – that happens out to sea a little from the port. The other case is a small jaunt during one of the sidequests. While we did consider making some rural areas just outside the city walls, we felt that we had our hands full with all the content (areas, quests, etc.) we needed to create within the four city districts, so decided to focus on that. You can read the whole interview over at Thieves-Guild.net. [Add/Comments: 0] - [View Comments/Permalink] - [Top] Posted: May 3, 2008, 11:06 am by Cap'n CJ Once again, Tiberius of Ossian Studios brings us a spotlight on the upcoming adventure pack for Neverwinter Nights 2, Mysteries of Westgate. This time around, the focus is on the war between two rival thieves guilds in the city - The Night Masks and The Ebon Claws. Here's a quick snippet:With only the briefest moments of exception, the Night Masks have dominated the underworld of Westgate for the past twenty years. Recently, however, a new group has arisen: The Ebon Claws, and while such rivals are usually quickly and brutally dispatched by the followers of the Faceless, the Claws, unusually tenacious, have not only survived the Night Masks’ assault, but have thrived and prospered. So confident are they now in their position that they have begun to openly war with the Night Masks, many times as the aggressors. Shockingly enough, it is often the bodies of known Night Mask operatives found in the morning streets, their domino masks mockingly stuffed in their own mouths and four dark, gangrenous, filthy lines – the eponymous "ebon claw" of the new guild – dug like trenches into their pale cheeks. As usual, you can read the whole thing at the official forums. [Add/Comments: 0] - [View Comments/Permalink] - [Top] Posted: May 2, 2008, 4:39 pm by Cap'n CJ  In real life, death usually isn't a good thing. Generally that's seen as "the end", however, in video games this isn't so. Evan Shamoon, over at 1up.com, has written an interesting article on the subject. Here's a quick peek:Even after working on a slew of rather forwardthinking titles (the Thief series for Looking Glass Studios, and now a project with Steven Spielberg for Electronic Arts), designer Randy Smith admits that the portrayal of death in games is very different from its portrayal in other forms of media. "In a movie or book, even one about violent events, death typically carries significant narrative gravity," he says. "Something to contemplate and reflect upon: mortality, tragic loss, the finite versus the infinite, all that jazz. In a videogame, by contrast, death is often just a temporary nuisance -- a failed jump or missed bullet, a lightweight frustration. The videogame version [of death] emerges from a collection of assumptions about what games are supposed to be: Games are supposed to be about goals; the goals are supposed to be judged and scored; consistent inability to achieve positive goals should lead to failure; games are supposed to be about dangerous and violent topics...altogether they mean that in a game, you should sometimes fail, and the failure should be death." You can read the full article at 1up.com, but this is quite an interesting topic, so let's get some opinions going! [Add/Comments: 6] - [View Comments/Permalink] - [Top] Posted: May 2, 2008, 4:25 pm by Cap'n CJ  This week's Neverwinter Nights Podcast is up, and this time they've got an interview with Tiberius, who should be familiar with some of you as a member of Ossian Studios, creators of the Mysteries of Westgate adventure pack. You can listen to it at the usual place.
[Add/Comments: 0] - [View Comments/Permalink] - [Top] Posted: May 1, 2008, 4:57 pm by Dalveen  The fansite www.diablo3.com has recently moved to www.diablofans.com, due to the purchasing of diablo3.com by Blizzard. Many think this is a sign from Blizzard that Diablo 3 is in production and soon to be announced.Here is a snippet from the fansite: Well, there's no point in beating around the bush any longer, so let's get right down to it. A few months ago we were contacted by Blizzard in regards to the Diablo3.com domain name. While they appreciate all the work that's been put into running this big Diablo fan community over the years, they still want the domain name. Hmm, I wonder why? Now before you get all up in arms about it, allow me to explain a few things. First off, this fan site isn't going anywhere, it's just getting a new name: Diablofans.com! Blizzard is actually being really cool about it, giving us all the time we need to make it a smooth transition before we hand the old domain over to them. So be sure to update all of your bookmarks and point 'em to diablofans.com instead. Your user accounts will all still be perfectly functional and, along with this new site name, we'll soon have a big site redesign up and running as well. A new name, a new look. Huzzah! You can read more on that post here. [Add/Comments: 7] - [View Comments/Permalink] - [Top] Posted: April 30, 2008, 8:47 pm by Cap'n CJ Every so often, a website will have an exclusive review. We've all seen them, but can they be trusted? The video game blog Variety has its own opinion. Here's a quick look:I want to note up front that I haven't played much of "GTA IV" yet, so I have absolutely no basis to claim it's not a 10. The bits of it I have seen in previews are really good. So I'm not at all accusing IGN of being dishonest in this particular case. HOWEVER... what the hell is with the concept of an "exclusive review?" Is anyone else as troubled by this entire concept as I am? I just got an email from an IGN publicist titled "FYI: Exclusive GTA IV Review @ IGN.com, scores 10" alerting me that "IGN.com, the Web’s leading videogame and entertainment information destination, has posted the first and only review of Grand Theft Auto IV." I'm reminded of when Game Informer ran an exclusive review of "Mass Effect" a few weeks before any other outlet and gave that game a 9.75. I was shocked since I really didn't think "Mass Effect" was that great (and said as much in my review), but of course it's very possible that the Game Informer folks just disagreed with me and that's well within their rights. The post is pretty thought-provoking. You can read it over at Variety. [Add/Comments: 4] - [View Comments/Permalink] - [Top] Posted: April 30, 2008, 3:25 pm by Dalveen  Guillermo del Toro has been interviewed over at TheOneRing.net over the highly anticipated films, The Hobbit and a yet unamed sequel that will fill the gap between The Hobbit and the start of The Fellowship of the Ring.Here is part of the interview: Fans are all abuzz about ‘The Second Film’, can you tell some of your plans for it? GDT: You know, I traveled to New Zealand just a little while ago, and one of the main reasons for going was to sit down and talk about the second film. ‘The Hobbit’, the book, is really one self-contained film, so for the second movie we sat down and worked it out. When we did this we got really excited because this second film is not a ‘tag on’, it’s not ‘filler’, it’s an integral part of telling the story of those 50 years of history lost in the narrative. There will be certain things that we will see from the first movie but from a different point of view, but it will feel like a volume, in the 5 volumes of the entire story. It will not feel like a bridge, I’ve been hearing it called ‘a bridge film’, it’s not, it’s an integral chapter of the story, and I think we’re all on the same page. You can see the whole interview at TheOneRing.net. [Add/Comments: 1] - [View Comments/Permalink] - [Top] Posted: April 30, 2008, 3:17 pm by Dalveen Over at the Scars of War blog there is a rather interesting post on how game designers can overcome the problem of powergaming by save/reloading to get the best result at every oppertunity.Here is a section: Specifically, how it is possible to almost completely negate chance via reloading. All RPG gamers will have experienced some form of this, at some point.Some developer thinks he is being clever by putting some form of gambling in the game. A roulette wheel or something. Now the player might have only a small chance in winning, anything from 1 in 10 to 1 in 3, but this is as good as handing them money. You simply reload until you win, save again, repeat, viola, instant wealth. It gets worse when game events are directly tied to such random rolls. You have to convince the gate guard to let you through the gate, but it involves a skill check? Well, even if your Persuade Skill isn’t too high you can often just reload until you get lucky and bang, you’re through. You can see the whole blog post over here, the post is entitled "Beating the Odds". [Add/Comments: 0] - [View Comments/Permalink] - [Top] Posted: April 30, 2008, 3:04 pm by Dalveen The CEO and President of BioWare corp have recently been interviewed by staff at GameDaily.com, on the subject of the varying degrees of narrative in games, dealing with mainstream press, approaching the MMO market and tons more.Here is a snippet from the interview: BIZ: If narrative or storytelling is really the future of gaming and driving the industry forward, that sort of conflicts with Nintendo's approach because most of their games are very casual. Muzyka: There's a narrative there, too, between people playing sports. It's actually a narrative between the people playing it. It's sort of one level abstracted from the game; it's like people playing the game and there's people in the community around the game, but if you're playing a game and laughing and having fun, instead of the game having those elements, the audience playing the game has the elements between them. I think it's still part of the game experience. Greg Zeschuk: I think another, tangential view on that is those kinds of experiences are much more like a toy experience. They're playing, together or not, but you're not 'gaming' anymore. What's different than you actually playing tennis? Muzyka: I think a lot of it is multiplayer, though, on that platform. Zeschuk: It is, I agree, that's actually the strongest experience. I'm making the claim that it may not be gaming. BIZ: Well there's the quote: BioWare says Wii is not gaming! [laughs] Zeschuk: If gaming is defined by story, then generally Wii may not be. The full interview can be found on the GameDaily site. [Add/Comments: 0] - [View Comments/Permalink] - [Top] Posted: April 29, 2008, 5:08 pm by Dalveen A group of forum members over at the BioWare forum have published a list of modules they feel have been overlooked by the community and are worth checking out.Here is what they have to say about it: Over in the Bioware Forums, a group of us have collectively started a list of modules that we feel have been overlooked relative to some of the more popular titles. Defining what is and is not an "overlooked" module is admittedly a subjective exercise, but we felt there were enough great suggestions in our thread to warrant compiling this list and sharing it with the visitors of the Vault. Because our list is quite long, we're releasing this list in monthly installments. We'd be delighted to receive additional recommendations for future releases of our list, so feel free to drop by the thread with your ideas. You can view the list here. [Add/Comments: 1] - [View Comments/Permalink] - [Top] |
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