Races

This week's Lime Odyssey dev blog is all about the Muris, an inquisitive race of tricksters who like to "spread trouble wherever they go."

Aeria Games has released a new cinematic and a couple of screenshots to go along with its textual description, and after viewing all of these after the cut, you'll have a clearer picture of who the Muris are (and why you might want to play one). Despite their cute factor, the Muris can be deadly, and they may be used in tandem with any of Lime Odyssey's four battle classes (Warrior, Thief, Mage, or Cleric).

[Source: Aeria press release]

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When trying to describe the Muris, one of three races for Aeria Games' Lime Odyssey, the phrase "cute as a button" pops into mind more than once. The Muris are a diminutive, "mischievous" people who spread chaos and giggles wherever they go. Players who choose a Muris character will have access to all four of the game's classes, and will begin their journey in the town of Pripet in the Shimmering Island.

We have a treat for you today: the world-exclusive premiere of the Muris introductory cinematic as well as several new screenshots of these bite-sized troublemakers!

Lime Odyssey is scheduled to release sometime in 2012.

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Humans are the standard basis for comparison in games that feature non-human races, almost as if said games were being made by humans for other humans. But there's still a distinct flavor to the human race depending on the setting. Case in point, the latest WildStar "interview" with one of the three lore characters from the cinematic trailer gives players a peek at a typical human, and he's a bit different than what you might have been expecting.

While the other major characters identify a specific world as "home," humans are portrayed as being a bit more free-forming, having roamed out in space for so long that they're really not bound to a location. The entry also discusses some of the lore behind being an Explorer and some of the perils associated with intentionally venturing into the unknown (it involves lots of things that try to eat you, if you need the short version). If you've been enjoying the flavor of the world Carbine Studios is slowly building, you'll probably enjoy this latest look as well.

Guild Wars 1 players are familiar with the Jotun race, mostly as "the giant creatures that won't stop KDing me," but they're going to have a continuing and more involved presence in Guild Wars 2, according to the ArenaNet blog.

Ree Soesbee took a close look at this race in the newest ArenaNet blog post, "The Savage Pride of the Jotun." In the post, she explains how the Jotun have essentially devolved over the years thanks to infighting: "Over the centuries of their existence, the Jotun have fallen far from their state of grace, losing command of technology and magic they once utilized, and remembering their place as kings of the land only in legend and story."

The post delves more deeply into the past and present effects of this change, then switches gears for a behind-the-scenes look at the race's creation. The full post is a good read for anyone interested in the game from a lore or development perspective.

The excitement surrounding TERA ramped up a few levels with the recent announcement of the title's May 1st release date. The action MMO from Korea's Bluehole Studio has been a long time in the making, and En Masse Entertainment has hinted at more details to come over the next couple of months.

Today the company has partnered with IGN to release a new gameplay video focused on the Castanic race. The clip runs for about a minute and a half, and features a smattering of action vignettes starring our favorite horned warriors. Check it out after the break.

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What's up with the lack of Wookiee player-characters in Star Wars: The Old Republic? BioWare scribe Alexander Freed says it has to do with both development costs and a concept called relatability.

"There are enormous technical obstacles, there is building all the lip synching, all the emotion into the face of the human is incredibly difficult and time consuming, doing that for something like a Wookiee –- and we couldn't half do it, we couldn't let Wookiees be only a third as expressive as humans," Freed explains in an interview at VideoGamer.com. He also touches on the fact that BioWare (and Star Wars) stories have traditionally revolved around human characters due to the ease with which most gamers relate to more familiar avatars.

Freed also mentions TOR's grand scope, and opines that other companies looking to follow BioWare's lead may have a rough time. "Even we didn't know what we were getting into at the start. I think it will be difficult for people to attempt it the same way. I kind of hope they do -- it will be interesting to see," he says.

[Thanks to Emily for the tip!]

It was no contest from the get-go. Lineage II took an early lead in last week's poll and firmly held on to it. Color me shocked. I really thought that a few of the entries would be closely tied. Some contestants recently added some juicy content releases, but Lineage II crushed them, and all the others, by getting 1,320 votes. The runner-up, Black Prophecy, only managed to secure 299 votes.

All its servers going F2P and the release of Age of Discovery weren't enough to put EverQuest II in the running. The F2P population boom in DC Universe Online's and its recent Lightning Strikes update weren't enough to create competition. Nope. The allure of Lineage II's F2P mode and the launch of the Goddess of Destruction expansion were just too much for voters to pass up.

Now it's your turn to start steering my course in the lands of Lineage II. Race, class, gender and my first class-transfer are all on the table.

I've tried to make voting as easy and clear as possible, but given how each race, and gender determine which classes you can choose from, you should make an effort to understand how all the choices work. Here's one example: Voting Dwarf and then Mystic is wasting a vote because Dwarves can only be Fighters, and it skews the results for those who are voting for a race that can be Mystics. You'll see what I mean.

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This week on The MMO Report, Casey treks to Burbank, California, to check out Guild Wars 2's voice-acting studio and interview ArenaNet lead writer Bobby Stein. Stein tells the crew that his team has been working on GW2's voice-overs for three years, resulting in approximately 70 or 80 times the amount of voice work for Guild Wars 1's final installment, Eye of the North.

Casey also interviews a trio of women portraying female Charr characters, but it just wouldn't be an MMO Report field trip if Casey hadn't given the voice acting a try himself. Rising to such stage directions as "he's a cat" and "now try it drunk," Casey receives a hard-earned standing ovation from the sound booth.

All this and more in the MMO Report video tucked behind the break!

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"Ah crap, it's BlizzCon again?" asks Casey Schreiner in this week's MMO Report. 'Fraid so! At the Anaheim con, Casey interviewed World of Warcraft Lead Producer J. Allen Brack about the Mists of Pandaria expansion, covering the neutral Pandaren race, the Monk class, the talent system overhaul, pet combat, world bosses, battlegrounds, challenge mode, retro dungeons, and beer.

He also found time to chat with a few fans, cut in line, sniff markers, wade into a loot elemental money machine, polish off some voiceovers for Jaina and Thrall, and play with WoW-themed LEGOs. I mean, MEGA Bloks.

Casey's takeaway? "We all learned something very valuable here: that internet rumors can sometimes be true. So thanks for ruining Christmas, The Internet!"

Enjoy the MMO Report just past the cut.

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Blizzard Entertainment is taking a gamble on its next expansion, Mists of Pandaria. World of Warcraft is still on top, but since Cataclysm it's nevertheless taken a beating. Some players attribute recent subscriber losses to games like RIFT; others blame it on natural gamer fatigue. Still others point to blunders in Blizzard's game development decisions. Wherever the blame lies, there's little question that MoP must deliver, especially with a few other likely blockbusters just beyond the horizon.

But on WoW's official forums, existing players aren't exactly united in praise for BlizzCon's reveals. While some fans are happy for the new race, class, and zones, others complain of cute-overload and yet another massive do-over for talents. And on non-WoW sites like Massively, gamers are already suggesting that the expansion is jumping the shark. What do you think -- are Pandaren Monks, a new Asian-inspired setting, and new dungeons enough to lure you back to WoW? Or is there nothing Blizzard can do to win you over?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

Usually when I talk about lore in the Hyperspace Beacon, I am not always sure whether it will make a huge impact on the games itself, and a lot of the time, my lore topics revolve around well-known pieces of lore. Admittedly over the last year and a half, I did hit a couple of subjects pretty hard, like Jedi, Mandalorians, Jedi, Imperials, Jedi, and Jedi. However, with these Holocron Files, I want to draw on pieces of lore that even devout Star Wars enthusiasts might not know about but that are still important to Star Wars: The Old Republic directly. In the last Holocron File, I talked about the Sith Pureblood because if you play a Sith Warrior, you will be able to choose that species for your character, and they play an important part in Imperial lore. This week, Trandoshans take center stage.

It's an amusing coincidence that Rubi asked about the lore of non-playable races in today's Daily Grind because that's what I'm talking about here. Trandoshans are not playable in SWTOR, but they do play an important role in the story in the game, particularly the Jedi Consular's story, and particularly one Trandoshan: Qyzen Fess.

Beyond the break, let's explore a bit the history of this species, its homeworld, its religion, and its relationship with the rest of the galaxy.

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The Guild Wars 2 development team has spent much of the past year releasing information about its game, and it's not all class reveals and gameplay demonstrations. Much time and attention has been given to the lore and design of the so-called "lesser races," such as the Skritt, the Quaggan, and most recently the Grawl.

ArenaNet's not the first developer to place so much emphasis on the all-around development of a race fans can't play, but is it worth it? Does knowing the history, beliefs, and behavior of the other inhabitants of a game world draw you in and interest you, or is it mere window-dressing for the main part of the game?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

I was pretty excited to see this week's addition to the ArenaNet blog for a couple of reasons reasons. First, I'm a big fan of Jeff Grubb's style of storytelling. It's clear, informative, and entertaining, with just enough of Jeff's wry sense of humor to surprise a laugh out of me now and again.

Second, it's about the Grawl! This is a race that I really underappreciated in the past, just like the blog entry said. The Grawl came to my attention only when I was giggling as my miniature Grawl talked to himself while running behind me, raging at multiple Grawl Udolytes in hard mode, and cracking up while watching one of my favorite fan videos.

I want to take a closer look at the Grawl, but there's more -- it was an exciting week in Tyria, so follow along after the jump and let's get started!

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