I am constantly awed by the large leap forward Blizzard is taking with the upcoming Cataclysm expansion for World of Warcraft. Not only are they redesigning the entire world of Azeroth (sans Northrend), they are completely reimagining the level 1-60 experience. On top of that they have worked painstakingly on giving many races a fresh new starting experience. Finally, they’re giving us two new races altogether.

One of those new races are the goblins. Goblins have been around World of Warcraft as long as the game has existed, but now you can finally play as one, albeit only if you want to be horde-aligned.

Right off the bat the goblin starting experience is downright fun, in all aspects. The quests are interesting, the lore is great and the hot rod you get to ride around Kezan the first few levels is a blast. I found myself just riding around town enjoying the technologically-kissed view. Your goblin is a pretty big name around town, and during the first few levels your empire sees its inception…or so you think. Odd things start happening with the nearby mountain which, ultimately, culminates in you having to leave the island. This deposits you unceremoniously on The Lost Isles, where a large part of your first dozen levels takes place.

Your once-bright future seems to be in shambles as the survivors of the Bildgewater Cartel work to pull together their civilization. You, of course, are instrumental in helping this take place.

One of the most amazing things about this area is the phasing. What started in Wrath of the Lich King in a somewhat subtle manner becomes a full-blown, in-your-face hurricane of content changing before your eyes as you complete quests, finish story lines and perform various actions.

The lore junkies among you will enjoy this area because it introduces a possible story line that will carry through the events of Cataclysm, which heavily features everyone’s favorite horde leader, Thrall. You learn bits and pieces about what he’s doing on the island with you and find out just how the goblins come to be an integral part the horde infrastructure.

By the time you leave The Lost Isles, you should be well equipped to be let loose in The Barrens. Wait, what? No, you say? Well, I’m sure you could go to Northern Barrens at this point, you haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen how Azshara has basically been rebuilt from the ground up and retuned for levels 12-20, or thereabouts. I find Azshara to be very, very sad, in a humorous sort of way. Why? Because only the goblins could change such a beautiful and rustic zone into the technological atrocity to nature it has become. There’s a highway that encircles the entire zone, a huge goblin stronghold in the middle of the Bay of Storms, strip mining operations and all sorts of very wrong experiments and projects going on all over the place. They’re firing rockets every which way, badgering the stone giants, killing the hippogrph population, deforesting the majestic trees and polluting the raging tides with their oil platforms. All in the name of the horde.

It’s a good thing my druid won’t be leveling through there in any way, shape or form. He might have a heart attack, considering I role-play him as a, well, druid. A tree-hugger, animal-loving, nature enthusiast, to say the least.

Anyway, moving on. Near the end of my trip through Azshara I was pleasantly surprised with a series of quests that were completely and utterly awesome. You’re given a goblin goon squad to trample through the groups of naga packed in the Ruins of Elderath in the middle of the zone. Many of these quests revolve around pre-existing features, such as the glowing pylons and the runic tablets scattered throughout the area. The fun is that you have this goon squad following you around. The naga are packed in pretty tightly here, and come in groups, so they’re required for you to complete the five or so quests you have here. This all culminates in a fight against an elite that is just plain, simple, soloable fun. I applaud Blizzard for this quest chain and hope to see more of the same in the future. It’s just great fun. I can’t say that enough, apparently.

Overall, the goblin starting experience is definitely something to take in. Along with that, the goblins have some pretty fun racial abilities that add to the engineering theme-park mood of these zones – shoot rockets at enemies, use a rocket to propel yourself forward, summon a bank – they’re all lots of fun, and useful too. Although, how well the abilities with damage output scale is another matter entirely.

Back when The Burning Crusade released, and we got our last two new races, those starting zones were great for the time. But now Blizzard has kicked it up a notch with phasing, more diverse questing and a richer experience overall. My only disappointment comes from the fact that, while you do have Bildgewater Cartel reputation, you don’t have a smaller rep “grind” for some nifty starting gear like they did with Tranquillen rep back in the day. I liked that idea and wish it stuck around. Other than that, though, this is a masterfully designed experience that is sure to please anyone who wants to run with a goblin character when Cataclysm launches.

“Time is money, my friend!”

In the latest game to go to a free-to-play subscription model, Sony Online Entertainment announced today that they will be integrating the model into Everquest II’s current pricing plans. While the game is going to be, I suppose, less F2P than other games that use that pricing model through and through, it is notable that they are adding the option.

The new option is called Everquest II Extended, and allows you to make use of many game features free of charge. The FAQ for the “free” version of Everquest II has this to say about the difference between the current pay-to-play subscription model and the new one:

“Extended is not a replacement to the live subscription service and while the game content is the same, access and restrictions are different between the two. Extended is a gameplay option targeted towards certain players who are willing to play within a limited feature-set service with additional content purchase and upgrade options, rather than pay for the full service via a standard monthly subscription. The live $15 EQII subscription service is unrestricted full access to the game world for those accounts in good standing, a valuable service, just as it has always been. The EverQuest II Extended service has restrictions based on your membership level. Limited access to the EQII Extended world and certain content is free, while other content, access, and items are available only for purchase.”

So, basically it is just another option in their list of subscription profiles. They’re also adding a one-year platinum membership for $200/year, which includes a bunch of extras, including a monthly allotment of Station Cash. Again, head on over to the FAQ for more details, including a “membership matrix” page that compares all the various pricing models and their benefits.

Free Realms is Sony’s super-casual, Disney-style MMORPG which is rivaling World of Warcraft in subscription numbers. It is usually a free-to-play MMO, but you can sign up for a VIP membership which costs you a few bucks each month. This comes with all sorts of extra goodies, including access to classes and quests that those choosing to stick with a free membership can’t partake in.

From now until August 2nd, though, instead of paying $5 per month for a VIP membership, you can buy a lifetime subscription for the low, low price of $29.99. To be honest, I didn’t believe this the first time I read it, but it is a pretty sweet deal if you’re a Free Realms player. Perhaps some of you who are just playing the free game might spring for an unlimited VIP membership at that price, eh? Check out the full list of VIP benefits and decide which route is the best for you, but this is a seriously hot deal if you’re a fan of the game.

Today Square-Enix released a ton of new artwork from their upcoming MMO release, Final Fantasy XIV, which showcases the game’s various classes. There are 18 classes in all, and these shots are a combination of all those, some more than twice with different races. All these classes fall into four different groups. You have your craftsmen and gatherers to start with. Sometimes you just have to work for a living, right? On the other hand, you have your fighters and casters, the more battle-oriented of the four disciplines. I think I want to be a ninja cat myself, because you know, ninjas and cats go together. What do you think?

Or maybe I’ll just let all the fools go out to battle and be content with a life of fishing or herbalism – be a pacifist. When I play, hopefully I’ll avoid the standard mage or ranger archetypes that I always tend to go for. I need someone next to me to slap my hand if I try to go through with it.

Final Fantasy XIV hits in late September for the PC and, unfortunately, not until March of next year if you’re hoping to play on the PS3.

A charming new MMORPG has been announced. The game is called Legend of Edda and it features a cutesy graphical style that will remind you of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. It is being published by GamesCampus, who have published other MMOs such as Asda Story in the past. While at first glance the game may appear friendly and childish, it possesses deep PVP and customization options. Hit the break for the full press release as well as the screens and artwork.

GAMESCAMPUS TO PUBLISH MMORPG, LEGEND OF EDDA

The Fast-Paced Adventure MMO Will Feature Charming Characters In
Intense Battles Set In An Ancient Mythological Fantasy World

Sunnyvale, Calif. (July 20, 2010) – Leading online game publisher,
GamesCampus.com (www.GamesCampus.com), announced today its upcoming
free-to-play, massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG),
Legend of Edda.  Developed by EYA Soft, this fast-paced MMO will go
into beta later this fall and will feature intense PVP battles along
with trademark cute characters.  For more information on the game and
to follow the latest updates, visit
http://LegendofEdda.gamescampus.com.

Based on the Greek mythological conflict between the Gods of the
Olympus and the Titans, Legend of Edda takes players through a dynamic
storyline divided into five unique chapters based on the conflict of
two opposing factions.  Players will pledge their allegiance to
Olympus or Titan from the beginning — prior to character creation –
which will play a large role in upcoming PVP and RVR battles.
Fast-paced PVP battles are the cornerstone of the game and will
include intense personal battles, guild battles and player-killing
(PK) where opposing factions can attack each other at any time.
Additional PVP battles will include the Sacred Treasure Battle: a
large scale RVR battle between followers of each god to obtain the
sacred treasures and, lastly, the game features Guild vs. Guild mode,
where players will battle within an enclosed battle ring.

“At first glance, Legend of Edda might look like a “cute” game, but
ultimately it is a fast-paced intense battle featuring powerful PVP,
and large scale RVR battles,” said David Chang, EVP of Marketing and
Business Development for GamesCampus.  ”With a deep class system, a
unique portal system, a special pet system, various quest varieties
and much more, it offers a compelling online gaming experience that
will keep players entertained for hours on end.”

Legend of Edda will offer a deep class system including six options:
Warrior, Swordsman, Assassin, Archer, Cleric and Wizard.  Players will
be able to choose their character’s first class during initial
character creation and upgrade to subclasses by completing promotion
quests and eventually upgrading to different classes while obtaining
greater and more powerful skills.  A unique portal system will make
transporting among maps and areas seamless and keeps the gameplay flow
intense.  Players can also look forward to instanced dungeons,
monsters, a special pet system, and four varieties of quests!

###

About GamesCampus
http://gamescampus.com is a thriving Free-to-Play games portal operated
by OnNet USA and serving the Western gaming market. Headquartered in
California, OnNet USA was founded in 2006 with the launch of its
highly successful golf simulation game, Shot Online and recently
expanded its operations with a new office in Germany. Games Campus’
diverse game portfolio includes MMOs ranging from sports titles such
as Shot Online and MLB Dugout Heroes, to fantastic fantasy MMOs like
Asda Story, Soul Master and Legend of Edda and WWII Flight Combat
Simulator, Heroes In The Sky .  All of GamesCampus.com titles are
completely free to play, and can be accessed at http://gamescampus.com
or in Europe at http://www.GamesCampus.eu

For many people, subscription fees are the biggest obstacle when it come to trying to pick up a new MMORPG. Whether you are already playing one or trying one for the first time subscription fees can be a deal breaker. If this is a problem that you have experienced check out Rappelz Resurrection. Rappelz Resurrection is a free to play MMORPG that is entering its closed beta stage. This game features a “tactical pet taming and training system” , loads of character customization options and fun and unique quests. The best part is that the game is completely free, there is no download or subscription cost. This game has not gone unnoticed either, receiving attention from Ten Ton Hammer and OnRPG. So if this game sounds like something you might enjoy, click here and game on.

Some fans of Square-Enix’s current MMO, Final Fantasy XI, who play on the Xbox 360, might have hoped that their newest outing into the genre would land squarely across all platforms that the current one does, those being Windows PC, Sony’s PS2 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360. No matter how much Square attempts to haggle with Microsoft, it appears it isn’t to be this time around – at least not until Microsoft changes their rules.

In a recent interview with Players4.de, FFXIV producer Hiromichi Tanaka placed the blame, so to speak, squarely on Microsoft at this point. Microsoft apparently made a one-time exception for FFXI back in the day, before Xbox Live was as established as it is now. Under their present “rules”, something like that wouldn’t be allowed. Why not? It’s his understanding that this one-time exception was made because Xbox Live needed all the help it could get at that point. Now the console giant is unwilling to open up its system to work with Final Fantasy XIV.

Because of that, it seems all development on the 360 version of FFXIV has been cancelled. I can’t blame Square-Enix here. Why would they continue development of their MMO on a system that seems staunchly against allowing the game to work? This doesn’t mean development can’t be restarted in the future, if Microsoft decides it wants to cooperate, but for now, don’t hold your breath!

[FFXIV Core]

If you follow the official Final Fantasy XIV twitter feed, you’ll see that Square-Enix started posting some screens from the beta client of the game. I assume this will continue, but for now, we have two pictures, both not quite the resolution I would expect from PC screenshots. C’mon Squeenix, give us some decent shots instead of these little thumbnail things.

Needless to say, they are new and they are from the beta so they deserve to get posted up, don’t you think? The first shot shows us something from the Miqo’te character creation screen, and the second is a map of some sort. Is it a city, or just a regular zone? Who knows. I can’t read it because it’s SO SMALL. Maybe that’s the point?

If you’ll recall, earlier this week Blizzard announced that they were going to integrate their Real ID system into the StarCraft II and World of Warcraft forums in the near future. This would have meant, when you post on any of those forums, your real name would be attached to each post. Trust me, that is something you do not want happening in that wretched hive of scum and villainy.

However, after a whole week of nerd rage – and this time I can’t object to it because I agree myself – Blizzard has finally retracted their stance on having everyone post with their real names. I applaud them for this, but still wonder why someone at Blizzard thought this was a good idea in the first place. I do hope they come up with some other ideas to improve the forum community for World of Warcraft in particular, as things have been less than stellar. But, posting everyone’s real name was not the answer.

The CEO of Blizzard Entertainment, Mike Morhaime, wrote a letter to the community (and sent it out through their PR department), explaining the change. You can find the letter in its entirety after the break. If you want to know more about how we felt about the initial stance of Blizzard and their Real ID debacle this week, check out our latest ShockCast.

Hello everyone,

I’d like to take some time to speak with all of you regarding our desire to make the Blizzard forums a better place for players to discuss our games. We’ve been constantly monitoring the feedback you’ve given us, as well as internally discussing your concerns about the use of real names on our forums. As a result of those discussions, we’ve decided at this time that real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums.

It’s important to note that we still remain committed to improving our forums. Our efforts are driven 100% by the desire to find ways to make our community areas more welcoming for players and encourage more constructive conversations about our games. We will still move forward with new forum features such as the ability to rate posts up or down, post highlighting based on rating, improved search functionality, and more. However, when we launch the new StarCraft II forums that include these new features, you will be posting by your StarCraft II Battle.net character name + character code, not your real name. The upgraded World of Warcraft forums with these new features will launch close to the release of Cataclysm, and also will not require your real name.

I want to make sure it’s clear that our plans for the forums are completely separate from our plans for the optional in-game Real ID system now live with World of Warcraft and launching soon with StarCraft II. We believe that the powerful communications functionality enabled by Real ID, such as cross-game and cross-realm chat, make Battle.net a great place for players to stay connected to real-life friends and family while playing Blizzard games. And of course, you’ll still be able to keep your relationships at the anonymous, character level if you so choose when you communicate with other players in game. Over time, we will continue to evolve Real ID on Battle.net to add new and exciting functionality within our games for players who decide to use the feature.

In closing, I want to point out that our connection with our community has always been and will always be extremely important to us. We strongly believe that Every Voice Matters, ( http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/mission.html ) and we feel fortunate to have a community that cares so passionately about our games. We will always appreciate the feedback and support of our players, which has been a key to Blizzard’s success from the beginning.

Mike Morhaime
CEO & Cofounder
Blizzard Entertainment

[Cataclysm Beta Report: These articles are based upon what we see and experience in the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm beta test. Keep in mind that this is not based off a finished product and things may change upon later beta versions and the final release. Also, be aware that, although we try to avoid major spoilers, there are so many major changes to the world of Azeroth that some spoilers are inevitable.]

I want to start off my Cataclysm topics talking about the redefined troll starting experience. You may wonder why I’d like to focus on that instead of one of the new races. I’ll tell you – I’m used to new zones and experiences being added to World of Warcraft. However, what is more interesting to me this time around is the restructuring of existing zones and redefining our experiences. That is why I believe this will be the best expansion for the game to date.

Currently on the live servers, if you start a troll character you’re given the same experience a new orc character would receive. You start in the Valley of Trials in southern Durotar and follow the same quest chains to Sen’jin Village, then to Razor Hill and on into Orgrimmar. There is nothing that really defines the trolls as a race. I’m happy to say that will all be changing once the cataclysm hits.

All of Durotar has been streamlined, and the quests are significantly different – both to fill in new geographical areas of the zone and to take into consideration new lore developments. The orcs still start in the Valley of Trials and work their way up, but the trolls have retaken the Echo Isles off the southeastern coast of Durotar. Those islands have been expanded and comprise the new troll levels 1-5 experience.

I created a troll druid, mostly because I wanted to see the new cat and bear forms (which, I’m happy to report, are incredibly hot). Starting off, you’re fighting Tiki Targets that don’t strike back, but by time you finish your questing in the Echo Isles, you’re getting glimpses into the situation the Horde now finds itself in, you fight alongside Vol’jin and get a hint as to what Thrall is up to these days. Exciting, no?

Moving past the islands, the quest progression takes you to an expanded Sen’jin Village, complete with flight master. It isn’t really a full quest hub, as there are only a handful of quests, but the expanded nature of the area is nice, and a much welcome change to the small coast village that exists now on the live servers. In the Durotar quest progression, you eventually make it to Razor Hill once again, which is also expanded with a full complement of class and profession trainers, a flight master and tons of quest-givers (including a new goblin NPC). It is from here that the majority of you Durotar quests originate.

What I enjoyed most here was the way trolls seem to get their own identity, especially early on. Before, following the same track of quests as the orcs, they seemed like just another member of the Horde, nothing really set them apart besides their accent. Now, it seems, more focus has been given to the race overall – you actually know who the trolls are and what their purpose is. This expands into the newly renovated “troll area” of Orgrimmar, back in the Valley of Spirits.

Another nice thing about the entire renovated Durotar experience is the inclusion of both phasing and new quest mechanics. While there are no vehicle-type quests, you do get to ride automatic mounts and there is one quest that has manual quest triggers you must hit to advance (it is kind of hard to explain, but it is a mechanic that only recently popped up in a few Northrend quests). Phasing is done subtly, but very well here. I was hoping we would see some drastic phasing like in the goblin starting area, perhaps actually experiencing the cataclysm and the flooding of the river that seperates Durotar from Northern Barrens, instead of that built into the geography from the start. Regardless of what I was hoping for, the subtleness of the mechanic in this zone comes across very nicely.

I did my best to avoid major quest spoilers while talking about this, but let’s just say that, if you’re a fan of Horde lore, you’ll love the new troll starting experience and I think Blizzard did an excellent job of establishing the trolls as their own people and giving them their own identity within the Horde. I’m big on the role playing aspect of World of Warcraft, my main characters being on RP servers, so all this new lore and the new troll identity actually makes me want to make myself a troll character once all this goes live. Remember to stay away from the voodoo!

By now I’m sure we all know about Blizzard’s Real ID system, which they have lovingly built into World of Warcraft and their upcoming monster hit StarCraft II. This is a system by which you can communicate with your friends cross-server, cross-faction and cross-game. When you mutually agree to have each other as Real ID friends, each other’s real names appear on your friends lists within the game, and you can easily recognize and chat with each other no matter what you’re doing.

This system is now set to expand to the World of Warcraft and StarCrat II forums, upon each game’s release (in the case of WoW, upon Cataclysm’s release). This has created quite an uproar yesterday across said forums. Why? Because gamers love to complain, that’s why. Okay, that isn’t really why. The reason is because this Real ID system, when expanded to the forums, will display each poster’s real name, instead of only their current character’s name and avatar. This presents a privacy issue to some – thus the eruption of nerd rage.

Here’s the heart of the matter, straight from one of the community managers’ mouths (or fingers):

“The official forums have always been a great place to discuss the latest info on our games, offer ideas and suggestions, and share experiences with other players — however, the forums have also earned a reputation as a place where flame wars, trolling, and other unpleasantness run wild. Removing the veil of anonymity typical to online dialogue will contribute to a more positive forum environment, promote constructive conversations, and connect the Blizzard community in ways they haven’t been connected before. With this change, you’ll see blue posters (i.e. Blizzard employees) posting by their real first and last names on our forums as well.”

I realize not all of you play World of Warcraft, StarCraft or any Blizzard games, for that matter, but if you did, would this change cause you to stop posting on their forums for privacy reasons or do you think this issue is being blown out of proportion?

A new trailer for the upcoming free-play strategy MMO Land Of Chaos Online(LOCO) has been released. This trailer was released in light of the recent beta stress test, which took place this past weekend.

The game will be published by burda:ic, who have published various online games in the past. Developed by Danal Entertainment, Land Of Chaos Online will feature innovative Strategy MMO-RPG game-play mixed with third person shooting.

It will also feature 30 unique playable characters, each with various customization and personalization options. The game combines RPG and action elements into a deep gaming experience. With no confirmed release date, LOCO is expected to launch this year. Check out the trailer after the break.

Free-2-play Nexon MMO Mabinogi is offering players a variety of seasonal events to coincide with the arrival of  summer. These events include the Independence Day event, which began on July 1st and will run unto July 6th, 2010.

During this event, players will be able to purchase fireworks from general stores and access special content when the fireworks are launched. Additionally, fireworks that travel a certain distance into the air will reward players with valuable in-game prizes. The second festivity is the Premium Treasure Chest event. This event will allow players to collect rare loot.

During the Premium Treasure Chest event, monsters all over Erinn will drop special chests. Players must locate the keys in order to open these chests. Following the Independence Day celebration, gamers can partake in a new version of capture the flag that grants each player a special weapon to freeze members of the opposing team.

These fire and ice festivities last for a limited time only. The Premium Treasure Chest event begins July 21st and runs until August 3rd, 2010.

The latest video from Square Enix in anticipation of the upcoming PC/PS3 MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV Online shows gamers the changes that have gone in to the game now that it is at beta stage and compares this to the original alpha version of the title which we all saw at E3 2010 (hands-on impressions coming to DualShockers this week). From enhancements in graphics, lighting, and textures to character detail the game has clearly been improved from the visual aspect. The battle system also appears slightly quicker and more robust. You be the judge and check out the video for yourself. This highly anticipated title is expected to release some time later this year but an official release date has yet to be announced.

Rift: Planes of Telara is an MMORPG from Trion Worlds that is expected for a release exclusively to PC sometime in 2010. Up to five characters with different classes were shown during the trailer, and it makes me feel like Rift: Planes of Telara gives off a strong resemblance to World of Warcraft. If you are a fan of WoW, I would say check out this trailer.

One of Square-Enix’s biggest titles at this year’s E3 is their second MMO outing, Final Fantasy XIV. We saw a new (albeit all CG) trailer, now we have some new information to go with it. There may be more coming down the pipe, too, who knows? Let’s see, where to start…

• We’re all well aware by now of Sony’s huge push for 3D. That translates into the PS3 version of FFXIV being in 3D. No surprise there, right?
• As is true with most MMOs, there will be high-end armor for each class, and I pray to the Squeenix gods that obtaining it isn’t as traumatizing as it was for the special-super-awesome class armor in FFXI.
• The classes (or roles or whatever you want to call them) that the game releases with will not be all there ever will be. Square-Enix promises to patch in new ones after the game is released. Whether this will be in free content updates or paid expansions, we have no idea at this point.
• Once your linkshell (guild) grows to a certain point, it will be assigned a “company”. This is a linkshell web site that will keep track of your activities and various stats for all members.
• There will be a mechanic that allows players to leave their character in the game world after they log off. This seems rather interesting. Perhaps you can leave your character online with a personal shop, or bazaar, active, so you can earn some gil while you sleep in the real world.
• Finally, it was confirmed that the beta will be starting “very soon”. Let’s just hope Square-Enix’s definition of “soon” isn’t the same as Blizzard’s.

Views: 279]]> http://dualshockers.com/2010/06/17/e3-2010-heres-some-new-ffxiv-info/feed/ 0 http://dualshockers.com/2010/06/15/e3-2010-square-enix-reveals-ffxiv-e3-trailer/ http://dualshockers.com/2010/06/15/e3-2010-square-enix-reveals-ffxiv-e3-trailer/#comments Wed, 16 Jun 2010 01:16:38 +0000 Chad Awkerman http://dualshockers.com/?p=28819

And what a beauty it is! Unlike the Star Wars: The Old Republic trailer, this one is seemingly mostly rendered with the game engine. But, it does look pretty. I would expect nothing else from Square-Enix. This is probably one of my most anticipated titles for this year, so let’s take a look, shall we? The trailer is after the break. Note the familiar faces from their previous online outing?

Today Square-Enix released a benchmark application for their upcoming MMO Final Fantasy XIV. This tool will use actual images and characters from the game to evaluate how well your system will run the game. Of course, final specs for the title may change, but this little handy tool will probably give you a pretty good idea how you stack up if you plan on exploring Eorzea on your PC.

Here are some features of the benchmark program:

• Character Selection: Users can choose from a selection of available characters to appear in the benchmark, representing five of the races appearing in FINAL FANTASY XIV. (Characters can also be selected randomly.)
• Detailed High Definition Support: In addition to 1280×720 resolution, a high definition display of 1920×1080 is also supported. Enjoy the realm of Eorzea in exquisite clarity.
• 5.1 Channel Surround Sound/Fully Voiced Dialogue: The benchmark software will run through an event featuring fully voiced dialogue in 5.1 channel surround sound.
• Multilingual Support: Japanese, English, German and French are supported.

You can download the benchmark application here and take one step closer to being the adventurer you always wanted to be! Yes, that was lame. Sue me.

As much as I hate trailers of games that are all CG, this one is pretty cool, and I’m a huge Bioware and MMO fan. Combine that developer and genre with the Star Wars universe and you will likely have something pretty special. The focus of this trailer, and the EA press event showing, was strongly on Player Versus Player activities. In addition to that, we learned today that every player will have their own ship that can in some ways reflect your own personal style (perhaps like player housing in other titles?).

The PVP combat previously mentioned will take place in special war zones, that will naturally pit the Empire against the Republic in all-out battle. Check out the trailer below to see what all the hubbub is about. Keep a bib around, as the trailer will cause you to spontaneously expel saliva.

As if to give a big “F-you” to E3, over the weekend Blizzard held a press event at which they detailed many upcoming World of Warcracf: Cataclysm changes that had been previously unknown. You know you’ve made it to the big time when you can skip E3 altogether and hold your own, arguably larger, event and charge $150 per ticket for entrance. That is just the way Blizzard rolls, folks.

Some of these announced changes disappoint me, but for the most part, they seem to be for the better. Let’s take a look and see what we have in store when Azeroth gets turned on its head.

The alternate advancement system dubbed Path of the Titans has been scrapped. This change disappoints me, because it held a lot of promise for an alternate way to advance your character once you reach the level cap. And, as an added bonus, it tied nicely in with the new secondary profession, Archaeology. This system would see our characters allying themselves with various titan groups in order to gain bonuses of all sorts, which would allow customization and advancement beyond just simply the vertical progression of leveling up. This idea has been completely scrapped and, instead, they have decided to overhaul the glyph system to provide some of these bonuses in a slightly different manner.

There will now be three tiers of glyphs instead of two. Here’s how things break down:

• Major glyphs: These will act similar to what they do now, however they may include class-defining abilities that could be considered as mandatory for end-game activities.
• Medium glyphs: This is a new tier of glyphs added to the other two, which will typically provide cosmetic, or fun, alterations to abilities or your character’s visual appearance.
• Lesser glyphs: Again, these function similar to what they do now, and will provided lesser needed and non-mandatory alterations to abilities and stats, to allow some flexibility in character customization.

Here are a few other things to note about the updated glyph system:

• You will have three of each glyph type at level 85.
• You will no longer have to re-buy glyphs when you respect or rearrange them. Glyphs will work much like skills do, and once you learn one, you always have it available for use.
• This list will show all the glyphs available for your class (which may be handy to see which ones you might want to purchase), but only the ones you’ve learned will be highlighted and available for use.

Since the Path of the Titans system was so closely linked with Archaeology previously, it begs the question of what happens to that interesting secondary profession since it no longer carries its original purpose. I’m glad they kept the profession around, for sure. Now, however, it will be more of a lore-expanding exercise than anything useful to the progression of your character. Archaeology will, of course, be completely optional, but it generates benefits in a few areas:

• It will function as a lore tool and expand the already rich story of Azeroth. You will uncover runes and various other items that will help you understand the history of Azeroth to a greater extent.
• You will gain various vanity items from it – including pets, mounts, tabards and clothing items.
• There will be a slight chance to find rare weapons, but this will be the only means to really add to your character’s stats/strength using this profession.

Another large and previously unannounced change has to do with raiding lock-outs and the size of raid groups. No worries, they are still sticking with 10- and 25-man raids. However, in an exciting change of events, you will be able to break up a larger raid into smaller raid sizes if you lose numbers on a particular night. To put that into perspective, if you start the night raiding in a 25-man raid, clear two bosses, then lose five people, you can then break the raid up into two 10-man raids and each group can pick up where you left off, with those two bosses down.

Raid lock-outs will also be more lenient in how they allow you to join raids already in progress. As long as you have killed the same bosses as the raid in question, you’ll be able to join them, even if you’ve already been with a different group in that same raid dungeon during the lock-out period. Again, to put it in layman’s terms, you won’t be able to kill the same boss more than once during any given lock-out period, however you won’t be totally cut off from raiding with other groups simply because you were in a different raid and killed some bosses.

While I’m not a raider, these changes seem to add more flexibility in a raider’s life, making things a lot less painful and stressful. It also helps raid leaders within guilds to organize things better and to progress when their raid size drops to under 25, allowing you to break up the raid into smaller groups to continue on right from where you left off.

Speaking of raiding, there has been info revealed on two new raids that will come our way in Cataclysm:

• Grim Batol – The Bastion of Twilight
• Skywall

We’ve previously heard of these raids, but didn’t have any solid, detailed information to go on. Now we do. The Bastion of Twilight will be an entry-level raid with five boss encounter initially. Eventually a sixth will be available that ups the difficulty a bit. Lead World Designer Alex Afrasiabi said that defeating the final boss in here, Cho’gall himself, on hard mode will cause the floor to collapse under the players, causing them to tumble down below and reveal a “horrifying secret” that has strong connections with the expansion’s lore.

Call me “casual” all you want, but why is this secret only revealed to players who complete the raid on hard mode? As much as they’ve molded WoW into a more lenient game over the last couple expansions, you would think any players defeating Cho’gall on any mode will be able to witness these events. To be honest, I eventually see this being the case anyway.

Skywal will include both 5-man instances and larger raids. One of the new 5-mans was revealed as Vortex Pinnacle. In this dungeon you can use your flying mounts to travel around, and you’ll go up against Al’Akir the Windlord at some point.

This, of course, is all on top of the already-announced aspect of raiding where both 10- and 25-man raids will drop the same gear, the only difference being the quantity. I’m really digging that idea. At least, I would be happy about it if I was a raider.

One last major aspect of Cataclysm that was discussed at this press event was guild leveling. They’ve changed the way they are going to implement this somewhat. Before they had guild talents and currency, which could be allocated the way the guild master (or those given permission by him/her) sees fit. They’ve scrapped that idea and simplified the way things work.

Two things that remain from the previous system are:

• Guild-based achievements
• Guild rewards

Here is a list of things that guild members can participate in to gain experience for their guild. That experience, of course, translates into the aforementioned achievements and rewards.

• Rated battleground wins.
• Dungeon or raid boss kills.
• Completing quests (including daily quests).
• Unlocking guild achievements.

The maximum guild level will be 25, with each level in the progression rewarding perks to the members of that guild. There is no longer need for talents to unlock these perks, as the previous system had.

Guild rewards will be obtained by earning achievements. (Perks and rewards are apparently two different things.) Once these rewards are unlocked, guild members can purchase them with their own gold, as long as their guild reputation is at a certain point. Oh yeah, didn’t I mention that? A player gains reputation with a guild by performing the previously-mentioned tasks, and this reputation is rewarded on a per-character basis, not shared with every character on your account. The rewards will include all manner of things, from vanity items to heirloom gear.

One of the most interesting guild rewards is adding a flag to your mount with the guild tabard design displayed on it, so you can show your guild pride without the arguably unattractive tabard getting in the way.

Finally, the guild window part of the UI is being overhauled. It will include things like scheduled guild events, a guild experience bar, your current reputation with the guild, latest guild news and major accomplishments. The news and accomplishments will unfortunately not be player-created, but will instead be generated by the game.

In a pretty awesome bit of info, the guild roster will not list a player’s professions next to their name, so no more putting that in the comments for each player individually. When you click on their professions, you’ll get a list of recipes that player can perform, which helps the entire guild know who can do what.

So, to summarize, this press event basically talked about three upcoming changes that we didn’t know about before the weekend:

• Path of the Titans has been scrapped, archaeology has been redone and inscription has been fleshed out more.
• New raid lock-out information and raid dungeon info.
• New guild progression information.

In addition to all of the above, some UI changes and lore facts were revealed, as well, which we’ll save for another day. Stay tuned here for more Cataclysm information as it comes down from Blizzard, although I expect the rest of this week to be pretty quiet on that front, with E3 going on and all.