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The hype machine isn't pumping up Final Fantasy 14 quite as much as it did for FF13 and its various (still unreleased) spinoffs. Developer Square Enix has a reason for this--the core fanbase of Final Fantasy, by and large, doesn't seem to find an online Final Fantasy game to be particularly appealing. This is likely because the last online FF effort, Final Fantasy 11, is a disappointment to many--it's a grind-heavy, obtuse massively multiplayer online role-playing game built long before World of Warcraft made the genre accessible to the masses that lacks the narrative-building and character development that makes the series so memorable. When Square Enix first unveiled 14--and revealed it as an MMO--at the 2009 E3 Sony press conference, the crushing disappointment from the audience was palpable.

But after a lengthy play session with Final Fantasy 14, such pessimism is perhaps unwarranted. FF14, far moreso than FF11, feels like what a Final Fantasy MMORPG should be, implementing the sort of visuals and elements of the beloved series into a multiplayer online experience. I'm a MMORPG skeptic--I don't particularly care for the genre that much--and played some FF11 for a while a few years back, but I didn't particularly enjoy the experience. FF14, however, left a very positive impression on me.


In the private demo session, I had the opportunity to create new characters and pick two of the three starting cities. After you create a character, the game greets you with a beautifully rendered and voiced cinematic sequence akin to what we're used to seeing in the offline FF games. It's quite the welcome change from being unceremoniously plopped, alone and bewildered, into the middle of a giant city with no clue what to do, as the previous game did. Choosing the forest city of Gridiana has you hearing mysterious voices and witnessing a fiery airship crash, and you end up meeting with two survivors and a pack of ravenous wolves. The story appears to be working from the get-go to establish the sort of memorable characters that FF is known for--and while you don't control them yourself, you apparently engage with them quite often. Picking the desert trading post of Ul'dah as your base starts you with witnessing a parade exhibiting some crazy, wild creatures--until something goes terribly awry and one escapes from its chocobo-drawn carriage, forcing you and other NPC bystanders to subdue it. What are the meanings behind these strange happenings? That's what you work to discover initially.

The real-time opening cinematics also make one thing abundantly clear: Final Fantasy 14 is one of the most gorgeous MMORPGs out there. Imagine the level of detail seen in FF13 in a persistent, online world--that is what FF14 feels like. Square Enix rendered everything about the game with the utmost care, creating a world that you'll be eager to explore just to see what sort of beautiful surprises wait among the forest greens and desert dunes. At a time when the visuals of many other popular MMOs are really showing their age, FF14 brings a fresh aesthetic to the market. The music is similarly excellent, composed by the world-famous Nobuo Uematsu specifically for 14.

After your opening sequence and a brief interaction with some NPCs, you're immediately thrust into the heat of battle. It's in these sequences that the streamlining of the interface in FF14 becomes clear. In contrast to FF11's obtuse controls, FF14 keeps the game easy to follow with quick-to-learn keyboard controls (assuming you're playing the PC version, as I was) and a much more intuitive system of commands for combat and interaction. The presentation is also much more appealing: Square Enix revamped the ugly, screen-crowding maze of menus and text seen in FF11, with such small improvements as putting NPC/story text in a separate window and mapping combat skills to numbered hotkeys making a world of difference.


In both starting cities, the game ushered us post-battle to a sort of helpful "guildmaster"-type character who gave us some maps and an initial quest to get to a camp with an Aetherite crystal. This crystal allows players to start taking "levequests" and gain access to other activities, such as buying and selling (though at this point and level there wasn't much else to do). It's in this journey and the initial levequests that you start to get more of a feel for the game, pounding on cannon-fodder marmosets and simple quest targets to build up the character's first few levels. As in FF11 (and FF11I, for that matter), you must manually target enemies, and they need to be within range of your attacks. The combat isn't that different from FF11: You've still got the action meter and TP-based skills, though we didn't see any of the powerful "once every X hours" skills that FF11 is known for. But the visual and interface improvements make it far more enjoyable. It's also easier to recover hit points--simply disengage by sheathing your weapon and running away from the danger's source and your HP regenerates on its own, provided you're not poisoned and nothing's following you. (Watch out for those crabs near Ul'dah; if you piss them off, they will follow you to the ends of the earth.)

This is also where you start to see the improvements made to FF14's class system. FF11 has a very serious problem in that some classes seem cool at first glance but are actually pretty useless, and others are incredibly useful but are an absolute chore to level--to say nothing of activities like crafting and resource-gathering. The grind for a lot of these jobs is intense. And if you put a lot of effort into leveling up a job only to find out that it really wasn't worth a damn, you felt like you'd wasted your time.

FF14 is a very different story. When you start, you pick one of four disciplines (Disciples of War, Disciples of Magic, Disciples of the Hand, and Disciples of the Land) and then choose a class from each. But you're not stuck in any of these classes--simply equipping a different weapon transforms your character from an archer to a monk to a mage to a blacksmith. You gain experience in these professions as you make use of their tools, be it in battle or in crafting and gathering (since the Disciples of the Hand and Land can't really do much actual fighting with their tools). Weapon rank and experience rank are not tied together, so you won't feel like you've "wasted levels" if you try out a class and discover it's just not for you.


This approach to the job system also allows you a lot more versatility. Need to take out a foe with magic? Equip a wand. Out on the middle of a quest and your buddy wants their armor repaired? Grab that hammer and get some experience for fi11ng it. See a good fishing spot? Pull out the line and tackle and chill for a bit. Gaining experience for each weapon or tool is quick and intuitive, allowing you to earn new skills without it feeling like a painful grind. On top of that, it makes FF14 a viable game to play for those who prefer to solo their MMOs (like me)--unlike FFIX, which practically forced you to party up beyond a certain point.

I was only able to play for a few hours with fairly low-level characters (I did get to mess around with a premade higher-level character briefly, which involved taking a random levequest and then becoming a very high-powered monster's dinner within a 5 minute span), but I genuinely enjoyed what I played. FF14 left me thinking that it has the potential to succeed where FF11 failed--making a game that successfully melds treasured elements of the Final Fantasy franchise with online multiplayer questing.

The PC version of the game is due out in late September, with the PS3 version currently scheduled for early next year. If you're currently left wanting for still more Final Fantasy post-13 (and it looks like it'll be a while before Final Fantasy Versus 13 arrives), you absolutely should not brush FF14 off before giving it a long, hard look.

-by Heidi Kemps

Bioware had a massive booth at the show, and for the first time the general public was able to get their hands on the game, well, that is if you could stomach the reportedly lengthy lines. Write-ups detailing gamers’ first-experiences with SW:TOR have appeared all around the ‘net since then, and eager fans have been poring over the markedly mixed opinions. No surprise, really, with such a highly anticipated game you’re going to have many people who will absolutely fall in love with the game after their first experience and those who will completely hate it.



The very first trailer for Space Combat in Star Wars: The Old Republic was shown at Gamescom as well, and we discussed this in great detail last week. Since then, Bioware has unveiled two of what looks to be a planned six starships to be included in the game. The two starships revealed were the same two ships shown briefly at E3 earlier this year, the Corellian-Defender Class Light Corvette for Jedi players, and the Fury-class Imperial Interceptor for players playing one of the two force-wielding Sith classes. Both ships are now up for viewing on the SW:TOR Holonet, where a smattering of screenshots, lore, and short clips of the ships’ interiors await. While many of you are likely more than familiar with my opinion on space combat in SW:TOR, I will say this, the interiors of the Defender and Fury ships are looking pretty snazzy at this point and I really can’t wait to explore and hopefully customize my own.

Finally, Bioware revealed a breakdown of all the Advanced Classes that will be available to players, and this really got fans buzzing. Read below for all the details:



The Trooper will have access to the Commando or Vanguard specializations. The Commando is a ranged DPS specialization that focuses on the heavy blaster cannon and grenades, while the Vanguard is the Trooper tank specialization, which makes use of the blaster rifle and energy shields.

The Scoundrel and Gunslinger specializations were also revealed for the Smuggler. The Scoundrel features some sort of blaster “shotgun” and oddly enough stealth mechanics. Oh, it can also heal. This is a bit weird, but OK.

The Gunslinger is more of what you think of when you think of a Han Solo-esque Smuggler. While Han stuck with a single blaster-pistol, Gunslingers wield dual blaster pistols and fill a ranged DPS role by using fast “quickdraw” attacks and the cover system.

Jedi Knights will support the team as either the dual-wielding melee DPS Sentinel or as the familiar Jedi Guardian class, which dons heavy armor and wields a single lightsaber in a tank role. The Guardian also uses “Leadership” and can provide the party with useful buffs.

The Jedi Consular’s Advanced Classes stirred the SW:TOR community into a tizzy over the past few days. Options for the Jedi Consular include the hybrid controlling/healing/damage dealing “Jedi Wizard” Advanced Class, as well as the saber staff wielding MDPS Jedi Shadow. Fan reaction to the Consulars “Jedi Wizard” class name was understandably negative, I’m not sure what Bioware’s thinking was here and I suspect that this may be changed. Yes, Ben Kenobi was referred to as an “old wizard” by Owen Lars in Episode IV, but that is pretty obscure and there are plenty of other possible names that could have been used here. This just seems like a lazy attempt to attach a familiar fantasy class name to one of SW:TOR’s “mage” classes. The Jedi Shadow, as its name would imply, interestingly makes use of stealth mechanics.



On the Sith Empire side, Bounty Hunters can either take the path of the Powertech or the Mercenary. The Powertech is one of the Sith Empire’s two tanking classes. Powertechs make use of Flamethrowers and similar to the Trooper, also make use of energy shields.

Players who select the Mercenary will wield dual blaster pistols similar to the Smuggler’s Gunslinger, but will also make use of missiles.

Sith Warriors can choose between the Sith Juggernaut and the Sith Marauder. The Sith Juggernaut is the analogue to Jedi Knight’s Jedi Guardian advanced class, however, it interestingly appears to be an “aura tank”, as it is said to make use of Fear and Darkside Auras. Certainly speculation, but I’m getting an Age of Conan Dark Templar feeling here.

The Sith Marauder, at least from the basic description we have now, seems identical to the Jedi Sentinel.

The sneaky snakes on the Imperial side can look forward to the Imperial Agent’s Operative and Sniper Advanced Classes. For me, these two, at least at first blush seem the most interesting. The Operative is similar to the Scoundrel in that it employs Stealth, but the differences end there. Instead of a blaster “shotgun”, the Operative is an expert at close-range combat using an energy blade, but can also fall back on his blaster rifle, and is capable of high burst ranged damage.

The Sniper, on the other hand, fills a ranged DPS role and makes use of the cover system, as well as ambush attacks and can even call down Orbital Strikes. My favorite post-NGE SWG class was the Officer, and so this seems like a good fit for me. I played the Imperial Agent during my E3 demo and found it to be great fun.

Last, but not least, we have the Sith Inquisitor. The Inquisitor, like the Jedi Consular, also has a somewhat dud of a class name in the Sith Sorcerer. Sure, it makes sense, but why not Sith Lord? Again, it just sounds like Bioware wanted to be able to yell out at non-SW fans who need their mage fix, “Over here! This is the mage!”

The Sith Sorcerer wields a single-bladed lightsaber and makes use of force lightning and force drain attacks. Sorcerers can fill a ranged DPS role with their lightning abilities or the healer role with their drain abilities. Oddly enough, this leaves the Sith Empire with only one healer option, while the Galactic Republic has two in the Jedi Wizard and the Scoundrel.

The saberstaff wielding Sith Assassin will allow players to live out their Darth Maul fantasy as a cloth-wearing melee DPS character, who, like the Jedi Shadow, can also utilize Stealth. Oh, and, yes, you can make a Zabrak Sith Inquisitor. Woot!



What are your thoughts on all the Star Wars: The Old Republic goodies to come out of Gamescom? Do you have a favorite Advanced Class locked down yet? Share your thoughts in the comments below!


Article By: Michael Bitton

In this scene from Vanguard's "Missionaries of Hate," correspondent Mariana van Zeller attends a press conference during which Pastor Martin Ssempa shows graphic gay porn to a room full of international journalists. Mariana traveled to Uganda to learn more about the growing influence of American religious groups has led to a movement to make homosexuality a crime punishable by death.

"Vanguard," airing weekly on Current TV Wednesdays at 10/9c, is a no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.

General Article By Michael Bitton

A sort of MMO renaissance appears to be approaching, and at the front of many MMO gamers’ minds are games like Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Secret World, TERA, and more. However, earlier this year ArenaNet began to unveil details on the successor to their CORPG Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2.

While Guild Wars carries a certain weight as both a critically and financially successful game for ArenaNet and NCsoft, I don’t think anyone could guess how popular it was to become with MMO aficionados all across the spectrum once ArenaNet began to really show their hand.

Guild Wars 2’s sudden surge in popularity is largely due in part to ArenaNet’s candid assessment of the MMO genre and their clearly outlined plans to address issues that have contributed to a sense of MMO stagnation, a serious “been there, done that” feeling amongst gamers. Innovation is always tricky when it comes to this super high-risk genre. Innovating simply to innovate often results in a game that suffers in every other area, or just becomes too confusing. The pace of successful advancement in this genre could definitely be best described as evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

Since the release of ArenaNet studio head Mike O’Brien’s design manifesto, the team has targeted specific facets of MMO games and illustrated at length how they plan to change things up, not only for the sake of changing, but as a necessity. The laundry list ranges from everything from storytelling, to combat, exploration, death, and a good deal more. However, what we’ll be talking about this week is progression.

ArenaNet recently revealed details on the game’s experience curve (or lack there-of), as well as plans for item progression. Guild Wars 2 will not feature a grind; instead, the leveling curve plateaus early on, Given the history of the original Guild Wars, it should come as little surprise to people that the game’s successor would not put a huge emphasis on leveling (players could level cap in the original in a matter of days, or even create max level characters for PvP), but ArenaNet revealed that Guild Wars 2 would be a full-fledged MMOG some time ago, unlike its predecessor, and this left the speed of progression a bit of a mystery.

Gamers should also be happy to know that they shouldn't expect a post-level cap bait-and-switch with Guild Wars 2, either. Not only will Guild Wars 2 feature a relatively flat leveling curve, but item progression has also been treated in a similar fashion. A post-level cap dungeon-grind won't be waiting for you to make up for the ease of leveling. If there is a dungeon with an item you want in it, you'll only have to do that dungeon a pre-determined finite amount of times to get what you want out of it. You won't spend three days hitting the level cap and then five years gearing up (figures used for sake of argument). Of course, this all based on what ArenaNet is saying, so whether you believe all this or not entirely rests on how much stock you put in their word.



As ANet’s Isaiah Cartwright pointed out in the blog update, “Anyone can increase the length of an experience bar and call it content”, and that practice is something that’s been a peeve of mine for some time. At the same time, many of us, including myself, understand the necessary evil that is the leveling treadmill; it keeps people playing, but ultimately it’s pretty arbitrary. My biggest peeve has always been the games that force players to tread through a serious amount of levels yet don’t build their content around this fact. Games like Aion, Age of Conan, and I’m sure countless others went into release forcing players to grind after becoming used to a certain rhythm of leveling that consistent content provides players. It’s jarring when you hit a certain level range and suddenly all the quests dry up. If you know your game doesn’t have the content for it, re-evaluate things and adjust the level cap or XP rates accordingly.

So, how does ArenaNet get away with it? The same way they got away with it the first time around! The lack of subscription fees offers the developers the freedom to create a content-driven world and not worry about retention as much (though there is still the mystery on how they plan to fund the continued development of new content for the game, as the scope of Guild Wars 2 is certainly greater than its predecessor).



Mike O’Brien mentioned that they wanted Guild Wars 2 to be fun from “moment to moment” in his original design manifesto, a phrase I’ve personally used when discussing why I don’t like to play certain MMO games with friends, and I was wondering how they were going to accomplish this. The picture has become a lot clearer in the months since that reveal: Visceral combat, many quality of life innovations ranging from the de-emphasizing of traditional class roles, to removing the barrier to entry on grouping (full XP, full loot for all), an interesting take on death as Garrett covered last week, and most of all a lack of focus on “the grind.”

Maybe many of us can still be tricked by this process, but it just doesn’t do it for me anymore. Once you’ve cranked through the first 20 levels or so of a game, you pretty much know how the rest of the leveling experience is going to be, the only difference being that it arbitrarily takes longer per level in order to keep you playing. I’m glad to hear that ArenaNet is focused on making that progression more interesting rather than arbitrarily dragged out.




I am quickly becoming a avid follower if this games development.
-Dunki

This soon-to-be viral gem straight out of Alabama's local news is probably the best thing to come out of a story about a rapist on the loose. The victim's brother really steals the show around the 1 minute mark.

The Original

The Re-Mix

They've faced down humans time and time again, but Fred Phelps and his minions from the Westboro Baptist Church were not ready for the cosplay action that awaited them today at Comic-Con. After all, who can win against a counter protest that includes robots, magical anime girls, Trekkies, Jedi and...kittens?



Unbeknownst to the dastardly fanatics of the Westboro Baptist Church, the good folks of San Diego's Comic-Con were prepared for their arrival with their own special brand of superhuman counter protesting chanting "WHAT DO WE WANT" "GAY SEX" "WHEN DO WE WANT IT" "NOW!" while brandishing ironic (and some sincere) signs. Simply stated: The eclectic assembly of nerdom's finest stood and delivered.

As you can see below, the fantastic fanboys delivered the the church a humorous dose of sweet fan justice. ComicsAlliance was there to witness the spectacle in full, which you can indulge in yourself after the jump.






Think this calls for an official "GET SHIT ON" Westboro Baptist Church!

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/0...aptist-church/

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