I didn't know this, sorry if this was common knowledge but just in case. OMG FREE! YAY! I love Rift but am too casual to consider subscriptions. 

http://www.riftgame.com/en/promo/freetoplay.php

RIFT Free to Play - Developer Diary	Small | Large

I thought this was interesting...because I like this kinda thing haha... But here is the Ogrim, a monster from Morrowind that they've recently incorporated.

Creating ESO: The Ogrim	Small | Large

Below is the article.


http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en/news/post/2013/04/09/creating-eso-the-ogrim

Elder Scrolls Online Column: The Solo Game

There are many features that players look for in MMOs including things like the end-game and, interestingly, the solo game. In today's column devoted to The Elder Scrolls Online, we take a look at the solo game.
By Garrett Fuller on February 12, 2013

We have talked a lot about many aspects of ESO in recent weeks but there are still huge areas of interest that need to be covered. Hopefully with convention season on the way we will see a lot more of the game at shows like PAX and E3 this spring. One area though that continues to keep me thinking about is the solo game. As much as MMOs are social, the Elder Scrolls games have always been solo affairs. The question here is how will the team at ZeniMax incorporate this solo friendly feel into their game?

The first key to this equation is their open world. Even though the game is divided into three factions, there is still a lot of exploring to do. The best part of Skyrim for me is picking a direction and wandering down a path. It really opens up your gameplay experience. It makes you think, and you can enjoy the game on your own without following question marks and exclamation points. If you stumble into a quest, great, if not you kind of make your own up. I have enjoyed this type of gameplay in other games as well.

Ultima Online was pure open world, so instead of being told to go kill a Dragon, you simply took the risk of going in the cave or dungeon where you knew they were. From what ESO has said in their interviews they want to have an open world exploring feel to their games. For me this is critical to solo play. Sure you will do quests and find NPCs who need help; that is common. However, it is the true free-form play that needs to be captured in the open world setting. If they can get this part right, there should be a lot of happy explorers out there searching the corners of the world.

We have done a lot of articles on crafting lately. One of the things Paul Sage had said about crafting which is entirely true is that in theme park MMOs crafters could never get the top tier gear. They would spend hours crafting only to fall short of the raid content items. This was always a huge injustice to me. The main reason I almost never craft in an MMO is because I never have too. I can always get the best gear without it. If you are playing solo though, this is a major part of the game. It is all about being self-sufficient. My main character in Skyrim has both 100 Blacksmithing and 100 Enchanting. I can make insanely powerful weapons and armor. That really is the core of how I built my character up. The one thing that is desperately needed if you are going to have an in depth crafting system is player vendors.



Paul Sage knows all about this from his Ultima days. You can use some kind of auction house system, but player vendors are awesome. If you host player housing, then allowing players to put shops out front really opens up a lot for crafters and shoppers alike. This part of MMOs was completely lost in World of Warcraft and the age of the themepark MMO.

The final piece to this puzzle is random loot. Random loot is one of the greatest things you can find as a player. As you are reading walk yourself through this scenario: You are out exploring the world. You come upon a group of Ice Trolls on the side of a mountain. They attack you and you begin an epic battle to smite the trolls. As you crush the last troll near the end of your life bar, you finally get into the reward stage of the encounter. You can search the chest, or the trolls themselves. One of them happens to carry a kick ass great hammer that you know will last you a good five levels. No quests, no time sink, just pure random fun. If the game has a healthy supply of random loot on monsters and in encounter zones players will be encouraged to explore the game more. If developers can hype up the idea of random loot being out there and encourage players early on to explore there will be a lot of solo players out there hunting around and filling in their maps... and randomly happening upon other players and grouping naturally.



So as stats from recent games show more and more people are playing MMOs solo, let’s hope that this year’s biggest MMO is thinking along these lines. The team has some of the top veterans working on the game and I think they definitely have the solo player in mind. As much as I am excited to enter into Tamriel with my friends, I am also looking for that same experience I got from Skyrim and the other Elder Scrolls games to be fused with the social aspects of an MMO. Some nights you just want to do your own thing, right?
What do you think of TESO and the idea of solo play?  Is it a must, or not? Let us know below!

http://elderscrollsotr.mymiddleearth.com/2013/01/21/10-reasons-why-the-elder-scrolls-online-will-rule-2013/



We don’t even have a release date, but I’m already convinced that The Elder Scrolls Online will be the most talked about, the most played, and the biggest game of 2013. I can hardly stand to wait any longer, so I wanted to share with you ten reasons why I think this will be the case. Whether it’s enjoying a massive, wide open world or being able to stay connected with your friends, this game will have it all. Check out my top-10 reasons why this game will rule the year, and share with us your reasons why it will (or why it won’t) in the comments below.

10) Socially Connected

Many people may scoff at this, but being able to be connected to the outside world while still in game, to me, is a great thing. Whether it’s sending out a tweet while fending off some wolves to invite my friends to join my game, or updating my Facebook status so my high school friends can see just how nerdy I really did turn out, this is a great idea. To me, it doesn’t have to have a lot of features, just let me connect my accounts in a menu somewhere, and then in the chat window just be able to type “/tweet” or something, and my next 140 characters will be sent out into the world.

9) Massive World

Elder Scrolls games are known for being massive, and this game is incorporating the entire continent of Tamriel, meaning the game will be so big there are no words to describe it. With so many place to visit, explore, and adventure through, The Elder Scrolls Online is prepared to offer players years of entertainment. In fact, the scale of the game is said to be even larger than that of existing games, meaning as big as Skyrim is in its current form, it will be even bigger online.

8 ) The Factions

It’s pretty exciting to me how they have divvied up the races. The Aldmeri Dominion, the Daggerfall Covenant and the Ebonheart pact will be warring with each other, which creates the drama that is needed between payers online. Additionally, it’s great they have a common goal of rising against the Empire, which should provide some fun interactions as each side fights to become the superior faction on the (mega) server.



7) The Mega Server

Speaking of the mega server, this technology amazes (and admittedly) baffles me. I don’t truly understand how I’ll be able to be online with everyone else all at the same time, but not really all in the same place… I don’t know, I’m not even going to try to explain it, I just know it’s cool. So even though I’m on the west coast, I can join up with my east coast friends without having to worry about whether or not I’ve created a character on the right server. They’ll just be there.

6) The Story

Whether you’re interested in your faction’s story, or the personal story of your character, there is sure to be an amazing show unfolding before your eyes. The Elder Scrolls games have not exactly been lean on the storytelling in the past, and there’s no reason to believe Zenimax Online Studios will be skimping here either. Whether it’s enjoying whatever road you take in your quest to get back your soul (which we know is stolen from you at the beginning), or just filling your days with “side quests” and exploring the wilderness, you’ll be able to make your character truly your own, and unlike any other in the game.

5) The Graphics

From what we’ve seen so far, ZeniMax has been pretty modest. At one point they said they would have to tone the graphics down from Skyrim’s levels in order to make the game playable on most machines, but it’s looking more and more like they’ve found a way to work some magic, as the graphics don’t appear to be dumbed down at all. Whether this is just for show or if the game really is being developed this way remains to be seen, but it has me incredibly optimistic that I’ll be playing not only an amazing MMO, but a beautiful one.

4) The PvP

I’ve never been much of a PvP player, but The Elder Scrolls Online has me thinking differently. From the small amount of video footage we’ve seen of huge armies storming the Imperial City, I want to be a part of that! I don’t even care what kind of missions or objectives are put into place, I just want to get in the middle of that epic battle and be a hero, be the one to fend off the last attacker, or be the sole survivor that brings down the wall. Whatever the objectives are in PvP, I can’t wait to get in there and tear it up.



3) The User Interface

One of the things that has always bugged me the most about MMOs is the incredible amount of icons necessary to have on screen at any one time. My Star Wars: The Old Republic characters have more skills on their hotbar than I do in life (ok, maybe that’s not saying much). It’s overkill, it’s distracting, it ruins the immersion, and it’s just ridiculous.

In The Elder Scrolls Online, players will have a minimal amount of icons on-screen. You’ll use your small selection of skills on-screen, and level them up by using them. You don’t have to worry about paying a trainer to level up a skill that you might someday, possibly use. You level up what you use, and whatever else is in that small hotbar at the time. This is such a great idea, and it’s one that will hopefully going a long way towards keeping players in the game, and not being distracted by what skills they need to put where, and in what order to use them. Just go kill something!

2) The Combat

Back when news of The Elder Scrolls Online gameplay broke, I wrote an article on how combat would work. Not much has changed in terms of what we know, but it bears repeating that this will revolutionize MMOs. You engage in combat in this game much like you engage in combat in Skyrim – in real time. You click your mouse to use your weapon, and depending on how well you aimed, you will hit or miss your target. The more successful you are at attacking, and even dodging attacks, you will build up “finesse” points, which you’ll be able to apply to a power move of sorts. Once you deliver this killer blow, you can begin refilling your finesse points and use the move again.

Additionally, as you are playing in the world, whether by yourself or with friends, any time you happen to be engaged in a battle with another player, your attacks have a chance to work together – “in synergy” – and create some amazing attacks. For example, another player may cast a spell that when combined with one of your moves, creates an even bigger, more devastating attack. The game will notify you that this ability is ready to use, and you can wail away on your opponent. It should create a lot of motivation for either grouping up, as it creates a huge benefit to both parties to work together.

1) The Freedom

Last but not least, it wouldn’t be an Elder Scrolls game if you couldn’t play the game the way you wanted. You want to take a race that is predominantly known for being an archer and turning him into a two-handed sword warrior? Go ahead! Maybe you start the game as a sword and board kinda guy, but decide you’d rather switch to archery. Don’t worry about finding someone who will do a skill re-speck for you, just switch! The way the leveling system in this game is designed, any player can use any weapon at any time, so there’s no reason to get rid of the epic axe you just found, even if you think you probably can’t use it. In this game, you can.
Additionally, you don’t have to follow linear quest paths to make progress in the game. Maybe you don’t even want to quest at all? That’s ok! Just head off on an adventure all your own, hunting wildlife, bandits, and who knows what else. You can spend your time in-game any way you want, and you’re not punished for doing so. You’ll still be able to level, you’ll still be able to PvP, and you’ll still be able to hop in with your friends at any time as well. This game will not restrict you in that sense, and players will be wise to spend some time on their own, just seeing what Tamriel has to offer.

When I wake up for the day, my computer is frozen at the login screen, and I am forced to reboot with the tower button. It treats it as a reset. This has only been happening the past 5 days or so and I've run every scan I can think of, and my computer has never froze up while I'm on it, or during idle periods of the day. I try to remember to shuter down at night but I forget- bad habit.  I've never seen anything like it before with any of my other comps.  I'm running windows 7 if that makes a difference.

I'd like to welcome our newest member

Apache787 (Vekk Bloodfoot)

who is now officially a Guardian! Welcome to TG and congratulations! Everyone is excited to have you aboard!

Please give these two a warm welcome!

Bacardi and Niclovin

These two have shown us that they are truly Guardian material, and are now full members! YAYYY!!
Congratulations you two