OMG RPG

As much as I wished and prayed and begged in a completely unprofessional manner, I did not get the opportunity to go to the Tokyo Games Show.  Therefore I was right there at my computer last night when the email came in letting us know that the first official Final Fantasy XIV trailer was being released at TGS today.  Here it is in all its glory.  I've been saying for a while that Final Fantasy XI needed an update, and I guess the MMO gods heard me, because XIV promises to give me not only the graphics I asked for, but also the story. 

While some might be unhappy that the new game is set in the same world as its predecessor, but in my view it's good news.  After all, the point of an MMO is to get lost in a world, and if you fall in love with a world, you want to spend more time with it, explore new storylines, and see it through new eyes.  I'm sure we'll hear more about the game as TGS unfolds, but for now, enjoy this introduction to the realm of Eorzea.  And no, it's not filled with mopey little purple donkeys.

I was looking back at how very depressed I was during the Opening Ceremonies at last year's Blizzcon, and smiling to myself as I rewatched the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm trailer.  Where last year us WoW lovers received hardly a handshake and a how do you do from Blizzard, this year the floodgates opened and once again I felt like Blizzcon was ours.  

Cataclysm represents much about what we've been wanting in the game as fans, players, and lovers of the MMO genre.  It makes sense that Blizzard is stepping up to the plate and reinventing their game, especially with the stiff competition that Star Wars: The Old Republic promises them coming in 2010.  Watch this trailer with me again, will you?  I dare you to try and not jump out of your seat at the end.  I know I did.

Yesterday while I was in the middle of interviewing a Blizzard dev (video to follow), the WoW class panel blew everyone's mind with how class balance and mechanics will change when World of Warcraft: Cataclysm hits.  The news, when I got to it, melted my brain for a good twenty minutes, and when I scooped my gray matter off the floor and stuffed it back in my ear I knew I had to share it with you.

It seems to me that the theme of Cataclysm can be stated as such: We're fixing what was wrong with the original game.  They editing lens that they are focusing on the leveling zones in Kalimdor is also burning its way through the class system as well.  Perhaps with the luxury of not adding a new hero class this time around the boys in the class department had a chance to apply the Cataclysm theme in their own way. Certainly they are reforging how we play classes in WoW much like the map of Azeroth is being reforged.

So, as we just covered in our Liveblog of the Blizzcon 2009 Opening Ceremonies, Blizzard just confirmed that their new expansion for World of Warcaft will be entitled World of Warcraft:Cataclysm.  Some new bits that weren't leaked came through, such as the Path of the Titans new levelling content, whatever that means, and guild leveling and achievements.  The trailer is already up on the WoW website, and we'll have it posted here in a few moments.  I will need a little bit of time to detail everything in the announcement -- the trick about liveblogging is that I spend more time typing and less time watching the screen. 

We are live from the Cataclysm panel, and we'll give you as much information as we get.

We're down here in Anaheim for Blizzcon 2009, and just picked up our goody bag.  As we did, we heard Samwise Didier ripping out some Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftan practice inside the convention center, and man, will they be the perfect openner for Ozzy.

What's in the goody bag you ask?  Well for one, no beta key.  We do have a key for Grunty the Murloc marine, but the usual beta key is suspiciously absent.  Here's a rundown of the items, and a gallery of the phat lootz:

Tomorrow all eyes will be on Anaheim as Blizzard begins their almost-annual Blizzcon.  Before our omgRPG delegation came to town, we spent a lot of time reading through a sizable set of spoilers reported to detail the next World of Warcraft expansion, Cataclysm.  I will link to them, but only in the interest of context, despite the feeling that the MMO gods (i.e. Blizzard) will not take too kindly to it.  You know, instead of a link to the page, I'll like to MMO Champion, source of the leaks, and you can find them linked from their main page.  There, you get information, and I get protection.  I feel better now.

Things I expect to see at Blizzcon this year:

* At least one if not two announcements regarding the last two classes in Diablo III.  There are a couple D3 panels in the schedule, and one that is labeled as a class panel, so there are definitely signs of movement.

* Discussion on the WoW Movie.  We know Sam Raimi is attached to the project, so hopefully the "DVD" panel will spend some time telling us more about the project.

* Lastly (and not least...ly?) We know there will be a WoW expansion announcement.  Whether or not it will be filled with all the information leaked, or perhaps a completely new expansion no one saw coming remains to be seen.

However, before all that...omgRPG heads to...Disneyland!!!

A couple months ago images were found in the World of Warcraft MPQ files with suspiciously new masks for this year's Hallow's End holiday event.  Today MMO Champion received word that these masks will indeed be the two new playable races for the upcoming expansion, whom many are calling Cataclysm. Careful: There be spoilers ahead.

MapleStory creator Nexon obviously knows how to translate their games to an English-speaking audience.  Let's hope they get a move on with the translation of their latest fantasy action MMO, Mabinogi Heroes.  While I've definitely been intrigued by the original Mabinogi, I wasn't completely won over with the series until I saw the combat of its prequel game that released this year.  Is there anyone out there with a solid knowledge of Korean that would be willing to help me figure out how to create an account?  I might have to wait until they create a US version of the game, but that doesn't mean I want to.

Blizzard Entertainment just sent out a press release letting everyone know that not only is the World of Warcraft movie still alive, it will be directed by Sam Raimi.  Color me shocked.  We first heard about this movie two years ago at BlizzCon, where they told us it would be a live action adventure flik centering around a group of heroes in Azeroth.  Live action doesn't really sound as interesting as a 2-hour cinematic might (at least from where I'm sitting), but we all went with it.  Then silence, crickets, and all manner of lacks of information.  Until an hour ago.

For those of you who don't know Sam Raimi, I give you a homework assignment:  Watch the Evil Dead trilogy tonight before you come back to class.Yes, I realize he directed the Spider-Man trilogy too, but I tend to try and forgive him for that.  Legendary Pictures is still connected to the project, which is slated to start filming after they wrap on Spider-Man 4 (ugh).  They are calling it an "emblematic" event film, which, I assume, translates to large budget and lots of special effects.  I just hope that the murlocs don't make a huge deal out of their part in the movie.  They can be such divas on set.