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| 2001, GameRifts.com (Hey that's us!) launches! |
| 2001, Vivendi Universal announces they will publish Dark Age of Camelot. |
| 2003, Another hit to the Shadowbane game by Ubi when "The Covenant of Swords" guild announces they are departing the game due to numerous game issues. |
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GenCon '03 SoCal
GenCon is the traditional paper gaming grand exhibition which has been going on for over 30 years in the Midwest, where gamers and game companies meet for all things gaming. This year, a new location opened for those on the west coast, with GenConSoCal, which took place December 11th to the 14th at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim California.
We were there! After checking out the Con and World of Warcraft, Sachant took a look at Mythica from Microsoft and headed out to a closed party with the Mythica gang. Read on!
GenCon03 SoCal: Mythica V.I.P. Party - Sachant (12-18-03)
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| Dwarf Concept Art |
Mythica's VIP Party- Get out the Vodka and RedBull
With some of our questions answered and a general annoyed feeling at the small and limited amount of things to see at GenCon, we headed out after speaking with the folks at Blizzard and Mythica to have some lupper (lunch/supper) and head home to rest up for the VIP party. Unfortunately with the Holiday season upon us, our babysitter could not watch our daughter. What were we going to do? I didn't like the idea of missing the VIP party since I had been looking forward to seeing what exactly it was they weren't ready to show the general public. So, being the responsible parents we are, we did NOT lock our daughter up in a closet with Ritz crackers and water. We took her with us. Now, picture this if you will, I'm seven months pregnant and we're hauling an 18 month old toddler with us. This does not exactly scream “BRING ON THE PARTY!!!” to many people.
We arrived at the hotel a bit late for the start of the party. The party was to start at 8pm and we arrived at the hotel, found the room and wandered in at about 8:20 or so. We weren't remarkably late at least. People were packed into the VIP suite like sardines and remarkably kind about our additional attendant. In fact, she was quite the hit after Rayven took her for an hour-long screaming walk away from the party to calm down.
People in attendance: Mythica Realms' Xyzzyx, Mythica HQ personnel, Warcry's Ophelea, Gamespy's Warrior, some folks from The Syndicate and of course the Mythica Folks.
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Jotunheim Ice Bridge
Concept Art |
Executive Producer Matt Wilson was a machine (as many people pointed out) as he showed off their design and Art Bible. I can't say much about it other than… WOW! Beautiful to behold and a really fine work in craftsmanship is going into this game both on a visual level and on a sound level.
Name tags had been handed out by Community Manager extraordinaire Lila Yee aka Jade Dragonfly with numbers for the random (dice roll) drawing for limited edition concept art pieces.
After the first Art Bible foray, everyone mingled and chatted. I spent a good amount of time with Matt Wilson and Xyzzyx (of Mythica Realms) as he went down his list . Rather than rehash what he found out and had confirmed, feel free to take a look at his questions. There were many other items of conversation touched on such as the ideas they were kicking around for PvP that I felt were both innovative and interesting. They are hoping to allow those interested in PvP the ability to get in and get dirty without interfering with those that don't care for PvP. I see a lot of possibility in their ideas and if I could, I'd tell you about them, but I cant….yet. Perhaps in a bit more time we'll be able to talk a bit more about this important aspect. I also asked about the idea of item degradation, this is another area in which they just can't answer yet. It's one of many things in consideration but consideration doesn't mean it will make release if at all.
I have to admit, I am most interested in the Trickster as the roguely type myself. I've been miserably disappointed with many games when it comes to the abilities of rogues and am a bit tired of having to Role-play to enjoy a rogue class at all. Now, don't get me wrong, I AM a role-player, but having the abilities to go along with it is a bit less pathetic don't you think? Thankfully the Trickster is a class that is near and dear to their hearts. The difficulty with a class such as the Trickster however as always comes in to balance. With say a warrior type, the expected is well… expected. Everyone knows what Warriors are all about. When it comes to a Trickster and the abilities they should have as well as the balancing that goes along with it, things are less clear. This is one of many reasons why the folks at Mythica are holding their cards closer to their chest than many would like. They want to get it right from the start and engage the players in a way that makes it possible.
Throughout the night those attending were reminded that the Developers could be bribed with Vodka and RedBull. This is important for many a fan to take note of. Should you wish to get in their good graces I would suggest sending them some.
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| Firehead! |
I also managed to spend a bit of time with Hal Milton (Senior Game Developer) and Lila “Jade Dragonfly” Yee (Community Manager) later in the night and have to say a few things about them. Hal has to be one of the nicest and unassuming developers. He confided in me that while he was enjoying the party to an extent, it wasn't his forte and he would have preferred to be behind his desk in front of his keyboard working. What more could fans want than an enthusiastic programmer that loves his work? He also had quite a few wonderful things to say about Matt Wilson. I had to agree with him and found Matt to be extremely easy to talk to. It seems Mr. Wilson not only is a personable person to talk with, but also is a hands on kind of guy when it comes to the development of the game. Instead of sitting back and nodding a lot, he actually understands his programmers and gets in with them and works on aspects of the game. I couldn't possibly say enough nice things about Hal or Matt at this point. They are the types of devs that inspire confidence in them both as down to earth people and as people that have a clue about their endeavor.
What could I possibly say about Lila that others haven't said already? I have to say we had a lot of things in common not the least of which is our love of Gaming and RTS'. Mythica and the community are lucky to have her. I look forward to working with her to bring everyone here at GameRifts more information about Mythica as she can release it to us. The VIP party was her baby and she and the Mythica team plan to have many more to keep the community involved in their progression on the game. Look forward to more of these sorts of events in the future.
After awhile and as the masses started to thin out in the room, the T-Shirts were handed out and the concept art rolled out. At one point I was THIS close to winning one but the gentleman that had his number called first realized he needed to speak up or lose out on his goodie. Mine was the number after his and I had the piece in my hands when he realized he had accidentally been passed over. Never fear however, Steve Scott and the rest of the Devs felt pity for the pregnant woman and I will indeed be getting a beautiful piece of art to hang in my office. We know Div is jealous and want's this piece!
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| Storm Spell! |
The party was slated to last until midnight but we all know how these things go. Hal Milton was beginning to wilt with the idea of having to be up again for more demos on the floor of GenCon on little sleep. The neighbors started showing up to see what all the hubbub was and had been invited to keep them feeling neighborly. It was a smart plan to keep the neighbors happy despite the loud party happening. Whoever said gamers are anti-social people have never been to GenCon or E3 parties after hours.
At 12:15am, we decided it was time to pack up and go home. Our toddler had long since passed out and was soundly sleeping in her stroller. We could have gone on chatting about everything under the sun, but felt that we valued our sleep as well. Overall a good time seemed to have been had by all.
Look forward to us having more Q&A sessions and some other goodies courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Community Manager Lila soon. As our new shiny Mythica T-shirts say, “Only YOU can prevent Ragnarok.” I would like to thank the crew at Mythica for their amazing hospitality and look forward to speaking with them more in the future.
Discuss: Nothing Like a Party!
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