RPG Pro

LoreHound Crier: The Week at a Glance

It’s been another great week here at LoreHound. More PAX interviews have appeared, we’ve had a few exclusives, and there’s even been some game industry mudslinging. I was terribly excited to see news about Torchlight 2, and I’m sure there’s even more excitement about Diablo 3. I won’t be playing either game as I’ve got weekend plans, but I’m sure between TERA and Diablo 3 there’ll be lots of beta testing going on this weekend.

This week seems to have flown by so quickly! Maybe it’s because I’ve been sleeping through a nasty flu, or wasting lots of time on The Secret War. Actually, given that I’m ranked #2 for my state on the leaderboards, I’d say I’ve been wasting entirely too much time on The Secret War. What can I say, I’ve got not-so-hidden dreams of world conquest, although I’ve been contenting myself with doing my best to keep Brasil and China in the hands of the Dragons. In any event, I feel like no time has passed at all since I wrote last week’s rundown. But enough about me, I’m sure the week’s news is much more interesting!

 

  • PAX East Interview with Jared Gerritzen of Zombie Studios, who discussed Blacklight: Retribution with iTZKooPA. New maps, game modes, heroes and more!
  • PAX East Interview with Chris Rippy of Robot Entertainment where iTZKooPA gets the scoop on lots of gameplay footage for Orcs Must Die 2.
  • PAX East Interview with Tor Egil Andersen and Erling Ellingsen of Funcom, talking about character progression in The Secret WorldPart Two is where iTZKooPA asks tougher questions, like when will we see more ARGs.
  • itZKooPA talked about the new content patch in Champions Online, and how it put the game back on his radar.
  • PAX East Interview with Victor Kislyi , CEO of Wargaming.net about the upcoming flying MMO World of Warplanes. If you want to take to the skies, there’ll be a public beta in June!
  • Mike told us about Yet Another Free SWTOR Weekend. How many of these do they plan on having? I agree with Mike, they should just get it over with and open up a fulltime free trial.
  • I was excited to see the launch of The Secret War, the Facebook app that’s paired with The Secret World, and discussed the unexpected success that shut it down for a few hours. My wild speculations turned me into a laughingstock – I honestly expected the app would be down for days or weeks instead of hours!
  • The first beta weekend for Guild Wars 2 was announced!
  • TERA‘s open beta weekend kicked of yesterday. Everyone can play this weekend, even if you’ve not purchsed the game.
  • SWTOR‘s subscription numbers may be declining, according to analyst group Cowen and Company.
  • Bluehole Studios called NCSoft a corporate bully, and said they won’t back down. TERA will be released, even if they have to fearlessly stomp through the grist of rumors and lawsuits.
  • PAX Interview with Stefan Ramirez of Bluehole Studios. iTZKoopa got the scoop on how the “holy trinity” will play out in TERA, as well as more details about the lauded political system.
  • The Diablo 3 open beta stress test weekend is underway, allowing anyone to get their hands on the game. I haven’t had much interest in this, but I’ll admit to being slightly disappointed it’s this weekend when I won’t be at home to play.
  • PARTY!! It’s the five-year anniversary of Lord of the Rings Online, and iTZKooPA spoke with Aaron Campbell, Senior Producer of LotRO, about the exciting events happening within the game to celebrate. Fireworks, mounts and costumes are just a few of the goodies available during the festivities.
  • PAX Interview with Max Schaefer of Runic Games about co-op, quest sharing and other exciting tidbits in Torchlight 2.

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TSW: The Secret War Has Begun!

Remember this long fabled Facebook app for The Secret World? The great countdown to nothing, when it was supposed to have launched months ago? Many fans stayed online for the countdown and anticipated start to this Facebook game, and all we got was an image of broken glass on the main Funcom page. The wait is finally over! The Secret War has finally launched! If you’re willing to spam your friends with advertising for The Secret World, you can play and win prizes such as a trip to Montreal, beta access, and goodies for use once the actual mmorpg launches. Take over the world! Or at least, help your faction do so.

As you can see, currently the Dragon is in the lead, although this is a very recent development and the numbers are changing rapidly. When I first took a peek at it this morning, the Illuminati had taken over most of the world. If you’re interested in world conquest, you can sign up, or join in on the discussion on the official The Secret World forums.

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Funcom has announced the launch of a browser-based online social experience, The Secret War

Funcom has announced the launch of The Secret War, a browser-based online social experience inspired by the conflict between the secret societies in Funcom’s upcoming MMORPG The Secret World. Starting today The Secret War will run as a campaign where players get to actively spread the influence of their secret society in a highly interactive [...]

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TSW: The Secret War is Coming “Very Soon”

Remember The Secret World beta registration? The strange Facebook application The Secret War that would supposedly grant the coveted closed beta access? That same one that failed to launch, and then after a big community fuss, seemingly vanished without further word? A recent post from Tarib, the senior community manager indicates that they are still hard at work on this fabled minigame.

“The plan is to get The Secret War into the next phase and fire it up fully. We sometimes felt ourselves a bit like some hidden society tried to prevent us from launching it but the way it currently looks we are getting really close now. We hope to have more information and details on this very soon.”

I’ll admit I have my doubts, but I am hoping so! I’ve been watching this game for years now, it looks like everything I’ve ever wanted in a game – if they can pull it off. So here’s to hoping they really mean it this time! :)

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