Public Quests are a new feature coming with Destiny of Velious that allow players to jump in and participate in a non-contested, dynamic battle. Take part in holding the flood of the Order of Rime back or helping the spirits of Coldain in an age-old ring war battle. These quests will bring players together for a common good and, of course, the rewards!
We go in depth about this exciting addition to EverQuest II in our Public Quests Guide!
At around 11 a.m. during our Gamer Day visit to the Trion Worlds offices in Redwood City, California, the fan site and press site folks parted ways temporarily. The fan site crowd went on a tour of the offices and met with the development team, while members of the press were led to a room with a long line of computer consoles. Taking seats around the table, we found Rift accounts with several level 50 characters waiting for us. My own computer had two Defiants and two Guardians, one of each calling. Since I primarily played a mage in the beta events, I took control of one 20 levels above what I was used to and logged in.
The zone we entered was snowy and placed us right outside an instance. “This,” the representative told us, “is the Abyssal Precipice instance. Have fun!” I looked around the room at my fellow news folks. Given level 50 characters pre-made and set up with tier 2 gear and the best spells would make it a blast, right? Right?
Your faithful ZAM staff has spent a fair amount of time entranched in the Destiny of Velious beta with Heroes of Test. We're here to report to you: It's cold in Velious. Okay, you knew that. Destiny of Velious offers a lot to all play styles, but since there's a week before launch we're going to stick to generalities. As usual, all our information is from beta and may or may not change before the expansion launches. All pictures were provided by SOE.
It's time once again for another exclusive TERA class reveal! En Masse Entertainment has been kind enough to send us some information on the priest, which fills the traditional healing role with some damage-dealing abilities tossed in for good measure. TERA is an action MMO, so it's best to think of the priest as a mobile medic who wears elaborate robes and carries a massive staff. Don't be surprised if you find yourself running around the battlefield to keep your allies alive.
Check out our in-depth details about the priest after the jump, as well as 10 gameplay tactics straight from En Masse Entertainment and a video showcasing the divine powers of the priest in action. We've also added a bunch of exclusive priest screenshots to our TERA image gallery, so browse through them for a closer look at the healing class.
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to attend Trion Worlds' third Gamer Day event at their office in Redwood City, CA to get a closer look at Rift before its official launch on March 1. During the event, I participated in a roundtable discussion with members of the Trion team, including Russ Brown, vice president of development; Scott Hartsman, chief creative officer and executive producer; and Design Producer Hal Hanlin. With several other fan and news sites in the mix, we learned many interesting tidbits and took a peek into Rift's future.
Keep reading after the jump for an in-depth look at the wide variety of topics we discussed, which cover everything from end-game content to souls and customization. Check back later this week for more of my hands-on impressions from the Gamer Day event!
In Rift, players take on the role of a slain Telaran who has been brought back to life to combat the forces of Regulos. Each faction has a different point of view on what it means to be one of the Ascended, and the experts at Trion Worlds have been kind enough to give us an exclusive look at the finer points of Ascension from the perspectives of the Guardians and Defiant.
In our latest exclusive Rift dev blog entry, Guardian Lore Lead Nick McDowell explains how Ascended Guardians have reached a state of enlightenment. Get all the details after the jump, and then check back next week as Defiant Lore Lead Morgan Lockhart paints a very different picture of Ascension for the Defiant faction.
It's that time again! Time for another BFF Report! This week, Mike B. aka Fony is still on his RIFT roll, although today he's decided to focus on the first three dungeons available to RIFTers: The Realm of the Fae, The Iron Tomb and the Deepstrike Mines. All in all, this just another great look at how RIFT is turning out, and if you really like what you see, perhaps you should think about pre-ordering so that you can get in on all of this closed beta action!
Watch The BFF Report episode 56 after the jump to go dungeon crawling in RIFT!
-Exploring Eorzea is a periodic feature taking a closer look at the people, places and lore of Final Fantasy XIV.
If you stand outside the Silver Bazaar and close your eyes, you can almost hear the haggling of merchants, the shouting of eager customers and the clanks of gil on the tabletop.
Open your eyes, and you’ll see the Silver Bazaar is barely even a shadow of its former self. The market is no longer open. A scale once used for measuring gold dust, food and other goods stands empty on a red tablecloth where venders and travelers once did business in droves. Only the cool, salty wind from the sea consistently moves through the Silver Bazaar, channeled by the sheer cliffs and leaving a fine coating of rust in its wake.
Discuss this in the ZAM forum.
By the end of February, Rift will hit the shelves with its pre-ordered players getting into the game a week before the official March 1 launch date. Also, the upcoming open beta event will give both the Guardians and Defiant another opportunity to hunt rifts, explore dungeons and make legends of themselves while Trion tests for bugs and server stability. But who are the heroes of Rift's world of Telara? And why are there even rifts to destroy? Staff Writer Paul “LockeColeMA” Cleveland takes a look at the story behind the fantasy MMO after the jump.
If you're a fan of Rift's lore, you'll definitely want to check out the upcoming exclusive dev blog entries we'll be publishing this week and next week by lore leads Nick McDowell and Morgan Lockhart. Until then, keep reading below for Paul's Rift history lesson!
This week is 'Human Week' on the ArenaNet blog!
A noble, resilient people, humans were the only playable race in Guild Wars, but a lot has changed in the 250 years between the original game and Guild Wars 2. Times are tough for the humans of Kryta; they have to contend with marauding centaurs, bandits, and internal intrigue, to say nothing of the looming threat of the Elder Dragons. Through it all, they’ve managed to maintain their hope, dignity, and (as you’ll see) their fashion sense.
“They are a proud people,” Continuity and Lore Designer Jeff Grubb, “They’ve been knocked back but not knocked out.”
