#muse: alpha prelude

[biteofcherry]

A promise that won't be upheld

part of Venomous Vows series in collaboration with @jamneuromain

mafia!Ari Levinson x female reader

summary: Your first impression of Ari isn't exactly a bad one, but it solidifies your decision to never have anything to do with him.

warnings: mafia!Ari Levinson; mob!Ari Levinson; soft dark!Ari Levinson;

Author's Note: This is sort of prelude to everything that happens. If you read the thread that started it all (and which is the core of what happens later), you will understand the title of this ficlet - why exactly this promise won't uphold 😏🤭

The sense of power doesn’t thrum through your veins as you cut across the lavish floors of the club, even though people part aside to let you through; neither it pulses as you take the spiral staircase to the VIP upper floors, where curious and hungry gazes glance your way, but no one dared to approach. 

At least not yet. Your father’s name is enough to keep most in line, but there is always someone who would be either too dumb or too drunk to make a move on you. The fact you could get rid of him with the mere mention of your last name didn’t give you a sense of power, either.

It’s the moment when you stepped down the narrow corridor that changed from lacquered black into burnt wood panels, which finally gave way into a beautiful oasis. 

Here, in the private garden sprawling above the city, you feel that rush. 

It’s not just a VIP area. To be allowed here is to be the inner circle. The very few who your father trusted. 

Or to be a monster equally influential as him.

Ari Levinson isn’t a close associate of your father. He doesn’t belong to the inner circle. He doesn’t belong to anyone, but the hell pit alone. 

But he’s here tonight. Exchanging who knows what false politeness and cutthroat deals with your father. 

You know he’s highly intelligent, brutally fast and decisive. Father wouldn’t sit down with anyone who didn’t deserve their position of power. But he’s not the kind of man you want to spend any minute with. 

Especially not on your birthday.

“I’d ask if he’s a stripper, but I’m not yet drunk enough for playing a dumb bimbo,” your friend chuckles next to you. 

She likes to play those games, especially with the dark and dangerous crowd - whom she proves to be idiots led by dicks. She’d almost cross a boundary, but make it so cute that the most ruthless of enforcers and mob soldiers were turning smitten and protective. 

Figures she’d set her sights on Levinson. Danger always lures her. On top of that, his looks also grab full female attention.

“That one is better to be left alone.” Averting your gaze from him, you turn and walk over to the further side of the roof garden, where garlands of lights are hung above a table set for a small group of people. 

Unlike your best friend, you’re not interested in poking the dragon. 

Or to even look at him too long, in case the devil snatches your soul somehow.

You prefer your partners to be more controllable. Lawyers, who have the brains and enough cockiness to make it spicy, but won’t get an upper hand over you. Mob boys who are in the higher ranks, but didn’t display alpha male behavior. CEOs who are too busy with their own empires to be hungry for having power over you. 

“He has to be a really big deal, if you’re saying that,” your friend muses, taking a seat beside you.

And he is.

Ari Levinson isn’t a man you’d want to find yourself near. Not only because of his reputation of being a ruthless and lethal leader. But because he’s not easy to control. He never would be. 

He’s a man who grips the reins of any interaction right away, twisting and pulling and lashing with a crop until any mare submits to him fully. He’s like that in business, but you have no doubt he’d be the same in any relationship.  

“Ladies.”

A voice smooth and rich as the last sips of thick, hot chocolate, resounds unexpectedly behind you. Startling you. 

When you turn, the devil himself is standing right there. His expression is neutral, void of any mischief, or malice. 

So damn controlled. To the tiniest muscle in his handsome face. 

“Mr. Levinson.” You greet him politely, hiding your annoyance at the fact you can’t read anything off his face, or his body language.

His body - impressively broad and thick, while still holding a jungle’s predator’s grace to it - isn’t stiff in discomfort, nor is it alert for a threat. It isn’t fully relaxed either. Somehow he’s perfectly balanced and in tune with his surroundings.

Yeah, definitely a man to stay away from, if you want to maintain your goal of always being in control.

Even if a small part of you wants to stretch along that body and rub your softness everywhere where he is hard.

“Wanted to pay my respects and wish you a happy birthday,” Levinson inclines his head your way. 

“Thank you.” It calms you, realizing it’s just a typical show of manners, which the mafia world puts such emphasis on while not batting an eye at killing. It’s quite comical. 

“I must admit, I’m surprised.” He adds, his tone for the first time betraying some kind of emotion.

Amusement?

“A mafia princess’ birthday being so modest? No party for hundreds of people and social media pictures? You must be setting new standards.” 

He doesn’t laugh, nor smirk, but you notice the way his blue eyes spark. It’s a short, fleeting thing, but it’s enough to grate on your nerves. It’s also enough to have your friend snort. Because of course she made nearly the same comment a few days ago, when you mentioned you just want a nice dinner and a few glasses of wine, not to party all night long.

Not only because you have enough noise and masses on a daily basis as you manage hotels and the party side of casinos - the legal front for the very illegal things your father runs. 

But because, as he called you, a mafia princess is never just a person of the evening for genuine celebration. 

You’re not naive or dumb to not know that those types of parties are a means to be shown around like a prized auction item to lure the highest bidders. Your father loves you, but you’re aware at some point he will arrange your marriage.

You want to spare yourself at least the whole circus of potential husbands, or their representatives, watching you and assessing your worth. 

“I’m not a college student on a spring break, nor a spoiled teen on a sweet sixteen.” You roll your eyes, not voicing the real reasons for the small celebration. 

Which was a tiny victory on your part, because your father couldn’t exactly show you off and wait for offers while it was only him, your friend and two cousins you were still waiting for. 

“No, you’re not.” Levinson agrees, his voice dropping an octave lower.

His eyes stay on your face, but it somehow feels as if he just dragged his gaze down your body in the most inappropriate way. You feel a warm tingle awakening beneath your skin.

“I wish you all a lovely evening. Once again, happy birthday,” he rolls your name on his tongue and his lips curve in a teasing smile.

“May it be a memorable one.”

You watch him turn and leave, moving with the confidence of a predator who knows the jungle holds no secrets from him. 

But he’s not reckless or stupidly cocky, you think. He’s simply (annoyingly) aware of his power. Which makes him all the more dangerous to be around. 

You make a promise to never find yourself in his orbit for longer than necessary. 

[sciencestyled]

The Bell-Ringer’s Cosmic Capers: A Comical Prelude to Universal Mysteries

It all began on a Wednesday, a day just like any other, as the pigeons of Notre Dame and I, Quasimodo, enjoyed our daily tête-à-tête. Little did I know, this ordinary day was about to take a wild turn, catapulting me from the mundane to the magnificent mysteries of the universe. You see, my friends, I had recently developed a peculiar interest—an interest sparked not by the ringing of bells but by the curious antics of an eccentric scientist who frequented the cathedral’s vicinity.

Dr. Léonard Lumineux was his name, a man as quirky as his moniker, and he had a penchant for sharing his latest scientific musings with anyone who’d listen. One fateful day, as I watched him argue with a gargoyle (which he claimed had the potential to harness cosmic energy), I couldn’t help but wonder what drove him to such peculiar pursuits. Intrigued, I decided to eavesdrop on one of his impassioned soliloquies.

“…and that, my stony friend,” he exclaimed, gesticulating wildly, “is why matter dominates the universe while antimatter is as rare as a pigeon with an affinity for algebra!”

This piqued my curiosity. Matter and antimatter? A cosmic conundrum, you say? My interest was officially piqued, and thus began my descent into the fascinating world of particle physics, an area of study that, frankly, seemed as chaotic and labyrinthine as the cathedral’s own architecture.

Determined to unravel this mystery, I sought out every scrap of information I could find. It wasn’t easy—Notre Dame’s library wasn’t exactly stocked with the latest scientific journals. However, my resourcefulness knew no bounds. I repurposed old manuscripts, consulted the cryptic carvings on the walls, and even interrogated the resident gargoyles (who, unsurprisingly, offered no valuable insight).

In the midst of my studies, I stumbled upon the tale of Andrei Sakharov, a physicist whose theories about matter-antimatter asymmetry seemed almost as twisted as my own spine. According to Sakharov, the universe had a bit of a bias problem—a preference for matter over antimatter, which led to the world as we know it. I couldn’t help but draw a parallel to my own life. After all, hadn’t fate shown a similar favoritism, leaving me with an abundance of matter (mostly in the form of a hunched back) and a scarcity of, well, everything else?

My newfound passion was not without its hiccups. For instance, there was the time I attempted to recreate a particle collision using nothing but a bell clapper and a particularly enthusiastic pigeon named Pierre. The result was less a scientific breakthrough and more a catastrophic mess involving feathers, bell fragments, and a very confused Pierre.

Nevertheless, my persistence paid off. I began to grasp the basics of matter, antimatter, and the elusive CP Violation—a phenomenon that sounded more like a culinary mishap than a scientific principle. Apparently, CP Violation was the universe’s way of playing favorites, giving matter the upper hand in the cosmic tug-of-war. It was as if the universe had rigged the game, much like how I might “accidentally” misplace a particularly noisy tourist’s map.

As I delved deeper, I learned about the grand endeavors to uncover the mysteries of the universe. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-02 (AMS-02), for instance, was a cosmic detective perched on the International Space Station, tirelessly searching for clues about antimatter. I imagined it as a celestial counterpart to myself—observing, analyzing, and occasionally ringing the metaphorical bell of discovery.

One evening, as the sun set over Paris and bathed Notre Dame in a golden glow, I had an epiphany. Why not share my quirky journey and newfound knowledge with the world? Perhaps others might find amusement (and maybe even a bit of enlightenment) in the story of a bell-ringer turned cosmic enthusiast. Thus, I decided to pen an article that would bridge the gap between the mundane and the marvelous, blending humor with scientific inquiry.

And so, dear reader, I present to you “The Towering Inquiry: Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry through the Eyes of a Bell-Ringer (the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Quasimodo).” Join me as we explore the universe’s quirks, ponder the mysteries of existence, and perhaps, along the way, share a laugh or two. After all, if a hunchbacked bell-ringer can navigate the cosmos’ complexities, surely anything is possible.

[nxthingtxwn]

//Back with a massive Muse List update to end this miserable year with a bang.

New Muses (and a few returning ones):

Kanna Kamui (Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid)

Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Miko Kubota (Glitch Techs)

Toph Beifong (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Loona (Helluva Boss)

Octavia Goetic (Helluva Boss) (This last name was added to differentiate her from Octavia Melody)

Amy Wong (Futurama)

Cyborg Noodle (Gorillaz)

Noodle (Gorillaz)

Turanga Leela (Futurama)

Alpha Prelude (Crush Crush)

Babybelle Caroline Valentine (Crush Crush)

Bonnibel Valentine (Crush Crush)

Caitlin Cintra (Crush Crush)

Elle Reed (Crush Crush)

Mio Farrow (Crush Crush)

Odango (Crush Crush)

Sirina (Crush Crush)

Chisa Yukizome (Danganronpa)

Rise Kujikawa (Persona 4)

Manic the Hedgehog (Sonic Underground)

Silver the Hedgehog (Sonic the Hedgehog)

Sonia the Hedgehog (Sonic Underground)

Tangle the Lemur (IDW Sonic) (probably won’t be too active until I read more of the comics)

New Alternate Forms:

Gynecaladriel (Amy Wong - Water Nymph Form)

Leegola (Turanga Leela - Centaur Form)

Katara (Adult)

Katara (Elderly)

Toph Beifong (Adult)

Toph Beifong (Elderly)

Alpha Prelude (Human)

Bonchovy (Bonnibel Valentine - Mermaid Form)

Jelle (Elle Reed - Slime Girl Form)

Miu Iruma (Succubus AU - Custom Sprite from Lab AU used for illustration only)

A Massive Walking Spoiler for Persona 5 Royal (On a Separate Sheet - View At Your Own Discretion)

Super Silver (Silver the Hedgehog)

Tangle the Lemur (Zombot Form)

[bananaairplane]

You Already Know What To Do

Shortly after I arrive in Oregon for harvest, I got an email from an editor asking for the manuscript of my dissertation, which I had described as being ready in my book proposal but was, actually, filled with notes to myself and the random rough patches left behind by cutting and rearranging. My first goal, however, was to find a cheap, old Toyota to buy. This was how I found myself sitting in the back seat of my roommate’s car, in the parking lot of an auto mechanic, typing footnotes on my laptop and glancing up every few minutes at the rear view mirror to glimpse the back of a pale green Camry perched on a lift in one of the bays behind me. Its wide fenders framed the horizontal red bars of the taillights like parentheses. As I gazed upon it, I knew this was my car. It was perfect: not beige, with leather seats, and the owner lived in the same suburb where I found my mattress, also on Craigslist.

It was not perfect: The “check engine” light was on, the radio didn’t work, and the A/C vent made a clicking noise. After the inspection found multiple oil leaks, I couldn’t come to an agreement with the seller on price and I walked away. I was so sure it was the one, but after all I don’t believe in superstitions like that. I reasoned that it only felt like my car because car buying is stressful and I just wanted it to be over.

The next day, I drove four more Camrys. Two of them were beige and most had the kind of busted suspension that makes it feel like you are driving an ox cart through a Thomas Hardy novel. One of them had a broken driver’s door handle, which seemed like a dealbreaker: What if I were being chased by a bear, and needed to leap to safety? Also, if no one has bothered to fix something so superficial, what kind of shape can the car be in?

I almost bought one of the beige ones from Adem, the salesman at a crowded car lot pressed up against a two-lane road on the outskirts of Portland. Relaxed, unflappable, cheerful, Adem had a careless air that telegraphed supreme confidence in his trade and also a certain disdain for it. When I returned to the lot a second time and explained that I wanted to drive the car 20 minutes away for an inspection, which would take at least an hour, he shrugged and waved off my offer to leave my license as surety. “I know you’ll come back,” he said easily. When I did come back, we sat in the Adirondack chairs outside the little office and reminisced about Turkish food. He told me about his vacation home in Anatolia and invited me to use it sometime. He smoked a cigarette and sighed as he looked out over the dense thatch of Subarus and Nissans on the lot.

Two days later, I set out to buy the car. I got a sense of what kind of day it was going to be when Andrew, the teller at the bank, began listing the Zodiac signs of all the actors who have played James Bond. It started innocuously enough. I asked him for $3,300 in cash. He took my ID and started typing things into his computer. “Oh, I see you have a birthday this month.” I assumed this was the prelude to some kind of security check, so I said yes, and was going to confirm the date. “You’re a Leo,” he mused. Was he hitting on me? He named two celebrities who were born on August 16th. Did their shared birthday yield other similarities, I asked? They were both in superhero movies. I offered that Madonna is a Leo. He was filling out the request slip for the money when he got to the James Bonds. Sean Connery: Virgo. Timothy Dalton: Libra. He needs a supervisor’s approval to give me this much cash. I make a comment about Libras being calm by nature, so he serves me Hugh Jackman, another Libra. Leonardo DiCaprio: Scorpio. He met Leonardo DiCaprio once, at the Aerospace Museum of California. The manager has come by and now Andrew is counting out the cash, spreading out the bills like he’s setting up a magic trick. I glance around the lobby nervously to see who may be observing. I sweep up the bills and stuff them into bank envelopes as quickly as he finishes counting. Now he is telling me that he paid $300 for a 3-minute video meet and greet with John Cleese, one of the members of Monty Python. He used part of his 3 minutes to tell Cleese that he didn’t really like “Holy Grail” very much. Cleese told him to watch "Fawlty Towers.” A line was forming for the teller windows. It seemed rude to just leave, so I waited for him to finish his story.

I don’t exactly remember how things went sideways at the car lot. Adem and I sat inside the little office, on either side of his desk. I brought up that the struts on the car were original and overdue for replacement. The owner of the dealership, sitting nearby, got wind of what was happening. “What is the issue? The what? Struts?” He called over. “What does that cost? $50? $100? We’ll replace them for you.” Immediately he had his phone out and he was dialing. “This guy is the best front-end guy in Portland, only the best work,” he was saying. “He gives me a discount.” He had the phone on speaker and held it before him like an old-timey movie star in her dressing room with a cut glass atomizer of perfume. The front-end guy quoted him $450 for the struts. “How much?” He exclaimed. He began dialing another number. “Hector is a grease monkey” he explained, “but he does good work.” Hector quoted $350. “With the savings,” the dealer assured me, “we’ll also have him change the oil.” I ended up taking my envelopes of cash home in an Uber.

Reader, I bought the pale green Camry. The owner was a somewhat disgruntled, wiry man who lived in an ostentatious tract home in a subdivision whose streets all bore the names of European cities. Except, incongruously, for Iceland Street; I guess they decided no one wanted to spend their life trying to spell Reykjavik over the phone: “ROMEO ECHO YANKEE KILO JULIET ALPHA VICTOR INDIA KILO.” When I texted him abjectly offering to buy the car, he surprised me by texting back that I could have it for $200 less than we had discussed, if I bought it the next morning. When I rang his doorbell, accordingly, at 10:00 the next day, he looked shocked to see me. He had deleted our previous text exchange and thought I was someone else. But, seeing as I was there with one of my envelopes of cash, he went inside and got the paperwork.

As the global pandemic and West Coast wildfires have upset my plans for this year of adventure, I’ve been flying by instruments, making up my itinerary as I go along. Where will I go next? What will I do? How will I spend this year, and what if the pandemic, having killed my round-the-world plans, extends what was meant to be one year of adventure into two? With little to guide my choices, I inevitably look for signs to signal which way to go next. When things fall into place, it feels like the universe sending me flowers: Sorry I screwed up your plans, here’s a Toyota.

Outside a cannabis dispensary in Santa Cruz on the side of Highway 1, a letter board sign reads: YOU ALREADY KNOW WHAT TO DO. I drove past it on my way to Big Sur to camp in my hard won car. Those words stuck with me as I drove down the coast, and resonate now, as I stay with friends in San Diego and contemplate my next move. On the one hand, I feel baffled: where to go next, what to do in a pandemic? On the other hand, this trip has revealed to me that I know the answers to those questions. I already know what to do. It’s time to make it happen.

[watusichris]

At the Black Horse Tavern on Armageddon Street

I said the soul of a nation been torn away…

In the Miracle Mile, the morning overcast locally known as “June gloom” feels deeper this year; the very air seems gray. I only escape the lockdown when I shop for groceries, in the hours the supermarket is open early for older customers. I do not drive, and, with public transportation out of the question, I am pinioned at home. Just to avoid atrophying completely, I flee my apartment for a masked walk of at least a mile every day, usually before sundown. If I walk up Wilshire, I pass dozens of empty office buildings and vacant storefronts; even restaurants with WE’RE OPEN signs in their windows are dark. It’s like something out of the 1959 atomic apocalypse movie On the Beach. The neighborhood seems almost entirely populated by the homeless who occupy the sidewalks along the boulevard. Some have been here for years. They have their spots staked out, and if they disappear you fear that something has happened to them. At night, the 8 p.m. hoots and cheers for essential workers have now died down. Distant fireworks, what sounds like gunfire, and sirens (from engines housed at the nearby fire station and squad cars from the Wilshire Division) are heard constantly. Police helicopters have always hovered every evening – Loudon Wainwright III, who used to live in the Mile, wrote a song about them, “Here Come the Choppers,” naming some local landmarks. Now they drop lower, so low that at times I fear one will land atop my building. In late May, after the Black Lives Matter protests sparked large demonstrations in my neighborhood and attendant nearby crimes committed by apolitical opportunists, I looked out my living room window and watched a looter drop out of a window at the Walgreens a block away.

It was into this vortex of disease, poverty, discord, and dread that Bob Dylan’s first album of new songs in eight years, Rough and Rowdy Ways, fell like some kind of miracle, on Juneteenth 2020.

The record was prefaced by a fanfare. On March 27, at the stroke of midnight in the East, an e-mail from Dylan’s publicist landed in my mailbox, containing a link to a new song, “Murder Most Foul,” a nearly 17-minute opus that used the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy as a springboard.

Now, even without its personal associations, this unexpected materialization would have been momentous. But the song pierced me to the heart, for on the day Kennedy was shot in Dallas, my mother gave me The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, the first record of his I ever owned; she had bought it as a Christmas present, but she thought it would console me, and she put it in my hands early. My mind reeling back, I listened to the new song, about Kennedy and the swell of American history and music, over and over on the night I received it. It manifested as another gift.

Two more songs, “I Contain Multitudes” and “False Prophet,” served as preludes to the arrival of the new full-length, which finally ended Dylan’s 2015-17 cycle of interpretations from the Frank Sinatra catalog of standards at a staggering five LPs worth. But the new record did not mark a definitive break with the sound and style of Shadows in the Night, Fallen Angels, and Triplicate.

Though a couple of the new tunes out of the 10 tracks rock in Dylan’s laid-back latter-day manner, the approach is largely subdued. The instruments are close-mic’ed, the atmosphere is tactile, the playing (largely by Dylan’s road band, with ringers like Fiona Apple, Blake Mills, Alan Pasqua, and Benmont Tench) is hushed and soft-focus. Only the addition of humming choral vocals on a couple of songs seems a new wrinkle.

The first time I listened to Rough and Rowdy Ways, I landed, hard, on one of those latter tracks, “I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You.” Introduced by the vocal choir-of-sorts, it is a ballad sporting some of Dylan’s most poignant singing. The Never Ending Tour has left his voice mangled, still, but he stretches as far as he can into his upper register here, his rhythmic sense sure as ever, offering a declaration of devotion and humility of surprising beauty. The first time I listened to it, tears leaped into my eyes.

The more I listened to the album, the more I wondered if that song was about a woman or about God. There are more references, direct and indirect, to religion on this record than there have been on any since the ones Dylan made during his born-again conversion of the ‘70s. Usually they play in the background. The only song to foreground the subject, “Goodbye Jimmy Reed,” plays the topic for comedy, and its denial of secular music has to be taken as tongue-in-cheek – the song rides a Reed-style shuffle that tips its hat, and hand, to the bluesman’s hit songs of the ‘50s and ‘60s. (The album’s other overt rocker, “False Prophet,” drinks from the same well: As many early auditors noted, the song is purloined from “If Loving is Believing,” an obscure Sun Records B-side by Billy the Kid Emerson.)

Questions of the soul crop up along the road; in “Murder Most Foul,” Dylan muses that Kennedy’s soul couldn’t be found during his autopsy. These glancing queries really come as no surprise, coming as they do from a 79-year-old musician who is no doubt weighing his own narrowing future and the transport of his own soul. While one can’t truly say that Rough and Rowdy Ways has an air of finality to it, it certainly reflects a reckoning with the past, at times in spades.

History is repeatedly pulled into the present here. Dylan gave his game away from the first with “Murder Most Foul,” which was animated by a cascade of allusion, literary and musical references, and brainy in-jokes. (The album is broadly funny at times, most brazenly on “Goodbye Jimmy Reed” and on “My Own Version of You,” a left-handed jape in which the singer takes the role of Victor Frankenstein.) “Mother of Muses” plays with antiquities: Using an invocation straight out of Homer, Dylan professes his love for Calliope, the Greek muse of epic poetry, perhaps admitting himself into a pantheon occupied by Whitman (celebrated in “I Contain Multitudes”), Blake, Ginsberg, and Corso, who are also namechecked on the record. “What would Julius Caesar do,” he asks at one juncture, and answers with “Crossing the Rubicon,” which drolly translates Caesar’s military boldness in internal, personal terms.  “Key West” is a geographic reverie that touches lightly on events from the songwriter’s teenage years, and makes an unlikely reference to Harry S. Truman’s Little White House. Doctors of Dylanology will be kept busy by this pile-up of history for years.

The violence of history lurks everywhere on Rough and Rowdy Ways. Usually it is stated as a threat – Dylan walks heavily armed, threatening to hack off a limb if he’s challenged. That violence is of course completely overt on “Murder Most Foul,” the alpha and omega of the record: The song was the first to see release, like an exclamation, and it takes pride of place on the album, set off by itself on a disc of its own.

Part conspiracy theory, part thriller, an eruption of cultural confluences, “Murder Most Foul” would be a baffling, thrilling, and all-embracing opus no matter when it was released. But, though it appears to take a long view of a historic occurrence that shook its then 22-year-old author’s life and heart, it holds a greater, contemporary resonance. Recorded in early 2020, unleashed into the world amid great darkness in the fourth year of another American president’s monstrous, conscienceless rule, that remarkable song – about law, crime, the republic, and what Dylan calls “the age of the Antichrist” – carried resonances that were hidden, and felt more than stated. It is the jewel of a deep, knowing work that is only beginning to reveal its most profound meanings, and one that offers succor to its listeners, we who daily claw our way toward the light. “It’s darkest before the dawn,” Dylan sings on “Crossing the Rubicon,” and then he adds, sotto voce, “(oh God).” In that telling moment lies his truest prayer.

(photo: Miracle Mile/Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, June 18, 2020)

[heartslogos]

seas who could sing so deep and strong [186]

“It’s just the five of us today,” Chic says, rising from her crouch and slowly surveying the area. “Punk’s doing some Kuva floods. He burned through his supply.”

“By himself?” Empress asks, giving her kavat an affectionate scratch under the chin that the kavat completely ignores in favor of staring straight the soul and deeming it severely lacking of whoever is stupid enough to make eye contact.

“Yeah. Well. No. Random squad assignments.”

“Is that squad going to be okay?” Hades asks. “I mean. Sometimes it takes all five of us to keep Punk alive. What if they…what if they’re mean to him?”

“Hades. Judge. Sweetheart. Are you asking if someone might bully Punk?”

“To be fair,” Persephone points out, “You did have me go with you to act as muscle when someone tricked Punk into giving them money.”

“Persephone, honey, you weren’t acting as my muscle you are my muscle,” Chic says fondly, giving Persephone’s Nidus a light elbow in the side. “And you are a lot of it. Anyway, no one is going to bully Punk. I mean. Punk, himself, is a walking bully. He makes fun of people all the time. Plays tricks on them. Does pranks. takes a savage delight in trolling people in his matches. If someone tries shit with him he’s good to give it back twice over.”

Alpha bends down and gives Empress’ kavat a hug. The beasts’ ears flatten. He quickly glances up at Empress, who just pats his head and coos at him. Jailer’s ears remain flat but he obediently holds still for Alpha to continue the hug, looking a little defeated.

“He’s going to be fine,” Chic waves her hands. “Listen. I know we give the dumbass a lot of grief about being shit at everything that isn’t in a controlled stadium setting. But that’s only because that’s us. Among the regular pool of tenno he’s fine. He’s pretty good at being a tenno. Really, the only reason he looks bad is because of context. Our group is overpowered with at least three outliers who should have never been counted.”

“You’ve lost me,” Hades says.

“Anyone is going to look bad when they consistently run next to the Empress, destroyer of stars and ravager of planets, the silence of a grave Alpha, and you, killer of a Grineer Queen.”

“Me?” Hades points at himself, looking around. “What? Me? Chic — “

“Considering that everyone knows that if you’re there Persephone, wrath on legs over there, is short to follow? Yeah. You’ve got a reputation for fucking shit up. And being like…a prelude to the tenno who is going to Fuck. Shit. Up.”

“That’s fair,” Persephone concedes.

“And then there’s me,” Chic jerks her thumb back at herself. “I might not have some kind of scary ominous reputation for murder and assassination, but I do have the weight of several economies behind me and you don’t fuck with that kind of economics. So. Yeah. In summary? If you remove Punk from our context he’s a pretty damn good tenno.”

Alpha gets up and gives Jailer a gentle pet between the ears. Jailer half-heartedly swipes at the skirts of Alpha’s Oberon.

“Wonderful for him,” Empress says, waving her arm out towards the snow covered tundra. “Consider any worries I might have possibly had abated. May we begin?”

-

“Do I want to know what’s going on here?” Empress asks, coming over the rise and seeing Chic and Alpha pushing Hades into a strange contorted position. Chic is pushing down on Hades’ shoulders and is pulling on one of his arms at an odd angle, Alpha’s got Hade’s legs.

“Probably not,” Chic answers.

“No,” Alpha clarifies.

“They’re helping me learn how to not fall down all the time,” Hades says. “Teaching me balance and how to find my core.”

“I wasn’t aware that this was something that needed to be taught,” Empress says, “At least. Not in such a hands on, involved, manner.”

“We tried using our words,” Chic explains, “It didn’t go so well. Then we tried showing him examples. Still didn’t go so well.”

“He fell down,” Alpha elaborates.

“And he kept on falling.”

“And this,” Empress gestures to the three of them, “Is going to help him?”

“We’re trying to figure out exactly where does he start to lose any semblance of being able to stand like a person,” Chic slowly starts moving Hades’ arm and Alpha’s hands tighten on Judge’s calves. “See? He’s fine until we get him like this. And then he starts going all over the place like an osprey with one wing.”

“What a colorful description. Has anyone told you that you have a wonderful way with words? They ought to.”

“Thank you!”

“Any advice?” Hades asks.

“Well, if they’ve tried explaining it to you and they’ve tried showing you and are now onto a hands on experimental stage I highly doubt anything I can say or do would help.” Empress makes her way to where the three tenno have left their warframes. “Persephone wasn’t able to help?”

“More like she wouldn’t help,” Chic shrugs. “She laughed and said she’d make sure we were unbothered but she didn’t want to stick around to see it happen. I think she also has us on mute right now.”

“That would explain why it’s so quiet here,” Empress muses. She steps out of her Saryn in a wave of shimmering and smokey black, running her hands through her long hair as she finds a place to sit down and watch. She clicks her tongue and Alpha’s kubrow comes over from where she was doing circles around he trio of tenno to lie down over Empress’ legs. “I’m waiting for sundown and I haven’t anything better to do. I’ll stay here for now.”

“Please feel free to offer some commentary,” Chic says. “Because, frankly, I don’t know what the fuck we’re doing.”

“That’s not encouraging.”

“Hades, you are a mess of a person who’s every attempt at balance has made you look like Persephone in archwing. There’s nothing encouraging to be said other than thank the Void you haven’t somehow tipped yourself over into a vat of acid when you’re outside of your warframe.”

[digikerlon]

The sea of stars ffxiv

#The sea of stars ffxiv Patch

We also get an interesting musing from Cid, on the nature of dragons and the primals based on them: Yet the fight is familiar in many ways, from our battles against the other great wyrms in the course of our journey (Quadruple Ahk Morns is a tad excessive though, seriously). Omega shows us a Midgardsormr wholly unlike the grumpy shell we faced at Silvertear, or has traveled alongside us since then in whelp and drake forms. You will contend with a true incarnation of the Father of Dragons, at the height of his power and glory.” This is not the faded specter that you know, or a mortal-conjured simulacrum. "According to my past observations, this opponent will accept only death as a condition of defeat…Prepare to face Midgardsormr–red-maned wyrm of the Dragonstar, and nemesis of my world. Subsequently, I lack the data to fabricate a completely accurate simulation. The contest ended prematurely, and I failed to bring down my foe. I was deployed to the battlefield, and it was there that I engaged an enemy of unmatched strength. It originates from a time when war had erupted on a distant star. “ I have altered this test world to reflect a recorded memory. We face a final enemy, but even then, Omega’s confusion leads it to spontaneously devise a new test: Omega declares Alpha “obsolete” as his original purpose was bait, complete with a homing sense to return always to Omega, but Cid scoffs at the idea that the little chocobo is anything less than an important member of the party. All other test worlds have been deleted, the experiments completed. After realizing Alpha has attempted, on his own, to save a friend’s life, Midgardsormr expends his own strength to save the WoL, and chides Omega, who cannot comprehend the great wyrm’s actions. In Sigmascape, as noted in the previous posts, the focus begins the turn toward Omega’s bafflement over how mortals beat the odds despite the hard data on greater threats it assembles. Deltascape gives us fragments and clues as to the long history between these two, but the focus is on discovering how the Rift works and the nature of Omega’s experiments–and realizing the true scope of the machine’s threat to Hydaelyn and all life upon Her. Midgardsormr is reticent to share his knowledge of Omega later dialogue indicates he’s barely holding onto his rage in the face of the machine, and the memories of what occured between them. Despite the Echo, the Warrior of Light is unable to understand the construct chocobo, leaving Midgardsormr to translate, awoken as he was by the activity of his ancient enemy. When we first begin the journey into the Yawn and Deltascape, Alpha and Alte Roite appear in the Fringes, designed to catch the attention of mortals and lure them into the Rift. Spoilers for all of Omega, especially Alphascape, below the cut! My previous posts from Sigmascape on Midgardsormr and Omega’s long, bloody history and how their conflict affects the present events can be found HERE and HERE. The relationship and parallels between Omega and Midgardsormr are central to the theme of Alphascape, and the overall storyline–with our buddy Alpha caught in between these ancient foes and what they each represent.

#The sea of stars ffxiv Patch

Time to muse more about Alphascape, the finale of Omega’s Interdimensional Rift raid in patch 4.4 “Prelude in Violet.” And after evading Omega’s pursuit over the course of an unimaginable journey, the Father of Dragons arrived here on our world.” As a result of that conflict, the wyrm was forced to gather his offspring and leave his home behind. “From everything we’ve heard thus far, it seems that Omega and Midgardsormr both hail from different stars–two distant worlds at war with one another.

[outlyingoutlier]

What's your opinion on a/b/o fic where female alpha's cocks extend when they're aroused? It leads me to believe that female alpha's in those verses also have a vaginal canal, right? I'm always curious why writers choose the female alpha anatomy they chose for their fic. What made you decide to write BB in a way that alpha women have unretractable cocks? Sorry if these are weird questions, omegaverse fascinates me :)

I’m a bit of a tourist in the a/b/o world, so don’t consider my opinion to be thoughtfully reasoned or derived from a deep understanding of anything. That said:

I’m down with all interpretations. I can’t speak to all of the many reasons why authors choose which configuration. I can see the possibilities inherent in various configurations, but I don’t want to say that there is always a symbolism behind it. This might seem counterintuitive because, actually, I think this particular subgenre is rife with symbolism, intended or not. 

I also think that the reasons why an author might choose to write an a/b/o fic (and how they choose to write it) might resonate with a reader in a way they didn’t intend more times with this subgenre than with others. I say that because I can see several possible reasons why the eccentricities inherent in a/b/o fic might appeal to people. (And several possible reasons why it might not.)

Sometimes, a dick is just a dick. Sometimes, it’s also a stand-in for psychological or philosophical musings or a plot device that lets an author look at things through a different lens. Sometimes, it’s a vehicle into specific kinks, or just a handy way to subvert things. It’s a remarkably complicated and interesting subgenre in my opinion. On the other hand, I can see and understand why it squicks other people out.

I say that as a loose, meandering, and perhaps confusing prelude to this: I don’t think I put a lot of thought into it when I wrote the first chapter of BB. That was more about the various kink elements that a/b/o can bring with it (e.g., a “biological” imperative that can impede good decision-making, etc.). Over time, though, one of the things I tried to work into the story was learning to be comfortable with yourself and with what you want, sexually. I wanted to write about a couple that learned to make space for the other person to feel comfortable expressing their wants/desires. I wanted to write about discovering new things and having to learn to work through enjoyment vs residual shame. I wanted to write about how that can make you feel vulnerable and how it can make you feel empowered.

So it worked out for this particular undercurrent, for Clarke’s genitalia to be what they are. Could they have been different and it still worked? Absolutely. For me, for this particular story, without Clarke being as described, you don’t have her initial vulnerability over her own sexual desires that leads to working to create that safe space (and her shock that it’s freely offered, without strings). Could this have been accomplished if she’d been written with one of the other a/b/o options? In retrospect, yes, but I think it would have changed various things. The endpoint might have been similar, but the pathway would have been a bit different.

How do authors choose? It’s probably a mix of personal preference, what serves the story, and/or they just did it that way. I feel I have failed you, young padawan, but these waters are murky.

[sbdicks2-blog]

Prelude, 2

It was dark; far too dark. I didn’t think I could experience anything as dark as this. While I couldn’t physically move, I’m sure that even if I could’ve, I wouldn’t have been able to see my hand in front of my own face. After that thought, my musings became slow, and it became hard to think. Was I under the effect of some kind of drug? Then it hit me, it almost felt like… I was sleeping, or, rather, I was inheriting the body of a sleeping person. Now that I had noticed it, I could focus on the breathing sounds; on the feeling of blood rushing through my vains; of… distant shouts.

With a rush, I came to. I guess. It wasn’t really me; didn’t feel that way. I couldn’t control myself. It didn’t feel like that big of a deal at first, I could feel myself move to my feet, and shake my head. I couldn’t see straight, but then I realised, I could see. I had actual working eyes. I wasn’t using the void to map out places like I usually do. I could see colours, and shapes, and… not important. Then I felt pain; god, it hurt. My lungs felt like someone had been kicking the air out of them. Then I gasped, but, like all the other actions, it wasn’t me. I didn’t feel the rush from taking in oxygen.

Then I saw the blood. It wasn’t on me, and, I didn’t feel like I was bleeding, so, presumably it wasn’t mine. The blood stained crimson robes, which is why it had taken me so long to notice it. I quickly put two and two together; Ash was lying dead before me, and from the looks of things, she wasn’t coming back. I didn’t wanna look at this, but I couldn’t move my head, whoever was in control evidently did.

Then, I heard a door smash open, and my gaze snapped towards it. Simon walked into the room holding Kimy’s body over his shoulder. I raised a fist, and extended the thumb, giving him a thumbs-up. I didn’t know what was going on. He spoke.

“Didn’t even have to kill this one,” he boasted, dropping her onto the floor. “Adam killed her for me.” Why wasn’t I doing something? My sister and ex-girlfriend, presumably girlfriend at the time, were dead.

Fuck.

It got worse. I could feel my lips turn into a grin, and it would have made me sick to my stomach were my physical feelings my own. I couldn’t even scream. I high-fived Simon, before spitting on Kimy’s corpse, and proudly announcing that there were only a couple left. Everything went black again.

This time, I wasn’t seeing things like… he was. I realised at this point that he wasn’t me. He had my clothes, and my voice, and was seeing the world through my glasses, but this wasn’t me.

Surely, this couldn’t get any worse. I was terrified; as terrified as one can be when not in control of their own physical body. There was no sweat; no physical proof of my horror. As time went on, the lack of support from my physical form, backing up my feelings, began to lull me into a false sense of happiness. I was being seduced by my evil alternate’s mind; my very existence being written off bit by bit. It was fucking sickening.

I’m not one to sit back and let people fuck with me, but there was nothing I could do; no way to stop him. He opened a door, and peered inside the room. Bubbles could be heard popping faintly, and a glow of purple filled my vision. When I realised what was inside the room, my ability to see again felt like a curse. Adam was strapped up inside the tank, being… boiled. You could see the steam. He must’ve been there for a while, because his skin was red and peeling. He was still alive, and I can only assume that the reason he wasn’t crying out in agony is because he’d exhausted himself previously doing so.

Just like everything else in this fucking nightmare, it made me wish I had the capacity to be sick; at least the feeling of throwing up would remind me that I existed; that I wasn’t just a slave being forced to watch the way that things could have been if only I hadn’t been weighed down by things such as a ‘conscience,’ or ‘not being a fucking tool’.

Everything went black again, and the next time my vision returned, He was standing over Lexi’s body.

I couldn’t handle it anymore.

I wanted out.

Salvation didn’t come.

I had to watch as he ensured her end.

The rest is a blur. All I remember is, at the end, he was on stage with three other versions of myself, playing the guitar while the supposed ‘alpha’ version of me – the actual me – sung vocals. 

I don’t know why my head made something like that up, but I don’t ever want to experience it again.

I don’t want to regain my sight anymore. I’m scared what I’ll see.

[aethermystfan-blog]

Make My MMO: WoW’s esports crowdfunding, Legends of Aria’s spring delay

This week week in MMO crowdfunding, Blizzard is making its debut on this column, because it formally introduced that will probably be partially crowdfunding World of Warcraft’s upcoming esports prize swimming pools. Esports followers will already remember that different corporations – together with Riot, Valve, and Hello-Rez – have utilized group gross sales and contributions to bolster prize swimming pools earlier than, however that didn’t cease the WoW fanbase from going ballistic on the suggestion. Thanks for giving me one other probability to make use of the cash elemental pic, Blizz.

In the meantime, Legends of Aria delayed its Steam-specific early entry launch till spring and pushed out a small patch for present gamers, Shroud of the Avatar raised eyebrows with its $6999 money store package deal, Ashes of Creation plotted one other leg of Apocalypse testing, Crowfall mapped out its street to true alpha, Star Citizen talked hoverbikes and woman toons, and Elite Harmful gamers managed to crash their very own servers with their largest group occasion ever – in truth, we’ve been touring Elite ourselves in Select My Journey.

Learn on for extra on what’s been up with MMO crowdfunding during the last couple of weeks and our roundup of all of the crowdfunded MMOs we’re following!

Pantheon idea artwork

Current MMO crowdfunding information

Blizzard lays out World of Warcraft’s esports 2019 plans, will crowdfund half of prize swimming pools – Though Blizzard might have reduce on esports help for Heroes of the Storm, World of Warcraft’s esports scene is again and larger than ever in 2019, and the studio… Star Citizen: Hoverbikes, feminine character fashions, and merchandise insurance coverage – Who do you’re keen on now? HOVERBIKES. Sure, one of the important thing bits from this week’s Star Citizen Across the Verse episode focuses on the design and improvement of hoverbikes. Sorry,… Ashes of Creation: Apocalypse plans open beta 2 for the top of January – Did not get your fill of Ashes of Creation’s Apocalypse battle royale final spherical? Right here comes one other beta occasion to cap off the month, operating from January 24th to 27th. Intrepid… ArtCraft outlines Crowfall’s (surprisingly brief) street to alpha 6.zero – Whilst a Crowfall backer, I have been sometimes confused concerning the recreation’s check standing, particularly after it missed two of its unique deliberate soft-launch home windows within the final couple of… Legends of Aria’s Steam early entry launch is now slated for spring – The testing via early entry continues for Legends of Aria, and that features determining the schedule for the sport’s patches and supreme launch. The newest information from the group is… Path of Exile particulars the caster-heavy class breakdown within the Betrayal league – With each Path of Exile league, the designers take the time to dissect the general stability of courses discovered all through the sport in numerous permutations, and Betrayal is not any exception to… Pantheon maps out 2019, promising new web site, Faerthale improvement, and extra – Brad McQuaid’s Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is kicking off 2019 with a brand new version of its publication that recaps 2018 – together with our personal hands-on at PAX East (tl;dr: We… Camelot Unchained recaps reabilitation, trebuchets, dances, and ongoing testing – The Friday up to date for Camelot Unchained wasn’t truly posted till Monday, however hey, we’ll take it, am I proper? Metropolis State Leisure’s Tyler Rockwell recaps the continued beta one part… Select My Journey: The lonesome job of star charting in Elite Harmful – Immediately’s version of Select My Journey options outcomes that have been each a landslide and very shut. On the one hand, most individuals prompt that I commerce in my present ship… Darkish and Mild is closing down 70% of its early entry servers – Snail Video games’ early entry MMO Darkish and Mild has suffered a couple of rising pains throughout its improvement. The corporate initially introduced it was resurrecting the 2004 MMO again in 2016;… Shroud of the Avatar plans a hefty money store overhaul, consists of $6999 package deal to help episode 2 – Shroud of the Avatar’s enterprise mannequin is seemingly getting a bit of an overhaul. As the sport’s newest publication explains, Portalarium is altering issues as much as higher align with different… So many individuals confirmed up for Elite Harmful’ Distant Worlds 2 occasion that the servers went growth – Elite Harmful’ large Distant Worlds 2 expedition is formally underway. Almost 11,000 gamers – and builders! – finally signed up for the voyage, which set out yesterday. As we have beforehand… Crowfall devs dig into optimization points, marketing campaign stability, and extra in new interview – Are you a Crowfall fan who loves Artcraft’s common Q&A movies however finds that they all the time depart you wanting extra? Then boy are you in for a deal with as a result of Crowfall…

Elite Harmful expedition

1st Day down of my journey with the DW2 Expedition. Right here is one of the pics I took on the best way. from EliteDangerous

Campaigns and crowdfunded MMOs we’re watching

3001SQ (Société des Mondes Virtuels) – Kickstarter unsuccessful, dev halted in 2018. AdventureQuest 3D (Artix Leisure) – Raised 368okay; beta started Oct 2016. Albion On-line (Sandbox) – Launched July 2017, hit Steam Might 2018. Antraxx (Staff Antraxx) – Kickstarter canceled. Ascent: The Area Recreation (Fluffy Kitten Studios) – Profitable KS. Absolutely launched 2016. Ashes of Creation (Intrepid Studios) – Profitable KS. Alpha zero. Broke Protocol (Cylinder) – Unsuccessful KS. In free early entry. Camelot Unchained (Metropolis State) – Kickstarter profitable; open donations/packages. Caribbean Conquest (Invenio) – First KS canceled, second ended unsuccessfully. Codename Actuality (Orode) – Kickstarter unsuccessful. Contested Area (Zon) Crowfall (ArtCraft) – Kickstarter win, open packages, Indiegogo crowdfunding ongoing. Chronicles of Elyria (Soulbound) – Kickstarter profitable, open packages. Citadel of Sorcery (MMO Magic, Inc.) – Open donations. Metropolis of Titans (Lacking Worlds Media) – Profitable KS; Situation zero delayed into 2019. Descent Underground (Descendent Studios) – Profitable KS. Divergence On-line (Stained Glass Llama) – Three campaigns; now in KS early entry. Dogma: Everlasting Night time (Prelude Video games Manufacturing unit): Kickstarter. In all probability lifeless. Dragon of Legends (Thrive Video games) – Profitable Kickstarter. Twin Universe (Novaquark) – Kickstarter funded, donor platform. Backer alpha. Eco (Unusual Loop Video games) – Funded, now in alpha. Edengrad (Huckleberry Video games) – Kickstarter funded; in early entry. Elite: Harmful (Frontier Developments) – Funded and absolutely launched. Empyrion On-line (Eleon) – Kickstarter canceled; launched on Steam early entry. Countless Trials (Hearth Hurts) – Kickstarter canceled. Epic Area (EpicSpace.internet) EverFeud (PSB) – Kickstarter canceled. Ever, Jane (three Flip Productions) – Now in open beta. Fractured (Dynamight) – Kickstarter profitable. Pre-alpha. International Adventures (SubaGames) – Kickstarter funded. Gloria Victis (Black Eye Video games) – Open donations, no finish date; in early entry. Greed Monger (Greed Monger) – Deserted, now allegedly in refund course of. Grim Daybreak (Crate Leisure) – Funded and launched. Guardians of Ember (Runewaker) – Funded and launched. Weapons of Icarus (Muse) – Funded and launched. Hero’s Music (Pixelmage) – KS canceled; Indiegogo. Canceled w/ refunds. Infinity: Battlescape (I-Novae Studios) HEX (HEX Leisure) – Funded and launched. Legends of Aria (Citadel Studios) – Kickstarted as Shards On-line. Early entry. Life is Feudal (Bitbox): Indiegogo ended. Presently in beta. LUX (Chimera) – Kickstarter canceled. Maestros of the Anthymn (String Concept) – Kickstarter canceled. Maguss (Maguss) – Indiegogo profitable; open beta. Mekria (Infinity On-line Studios) – Kickstarter canceled. Midair (Archetype Studios) – Kickstarter profitable. Nebula On-line (Mizar Video games) Kickstarter canceled; launched in November. Neo’s Land (NeoJac Leisure) – Open donations, no finish date. Novus AEterno (Taitale Studios) OrbusVR (Advert Alternum) – KS funded March 2017. In early entry. Overpower (Hydrant Video games) – Kickstarter unfunded; heading to early entry. Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen (Visionary Realms) – Open donations. Pre-alpha. Pantropy (Mind Stone GmbH): First Kickstarter canceled, second funded. Pathfinder On-line (GoblinWorks) – Doom, principally. Planet Nomads (Craneballs) – Kickstarted, early entry launched sans multiplayer. Pixel Starships (SavySoda) Challenge Gorgon (Elder Recreation) – Kickstarted in three tries + Indiegogo. Early entry. Venture Oasis World (POW) – Kickstarter unsuccessful. Pumpkin On-line (Monique) – Downgrading from MMORPG. Temtem (Crema) – Kickstarter absolutely funded; now in alpha. The Exiled (Fairytale Distillery) – fka Das Tal; KS unsuccessful. Early entry. The Flower of Knighthood – Kickstarter canceled. The Realm: Reawakened (Stephen Nichols) – Ongoing GoFundMe. The Repopulation (Concept Fabrik) – Kickstarted twice by A&B. Again in alpha. ROKH (Darewise) – Kickstarter canceled; in  early entry however not lively dev. RUiN (Tarhead Studio) – Kickstarter profitable. The Stomping Land (Alex Fundora) – Deserted. Sacrament (Ferocity Unbound) – Kickstarter failed; Patreon ongoing. Saga of Lucimia (Stormhaven) – Indiegogo. Intermittent pre-alphas. Shadow’s Kiss (Clockwork Throne) – Ongoing Patreon, Kickstarter funded. Shroud of the Avatar (Portalarium) – Delicate launch July 2016. Launch March 2018. Squadron 42 (Cloud Imperium) – Beta delayed till a minimum of 2020. Star Citizen (Cloud Imperium) – Ongoing donations/packages. Backer alpha. TUG (Nerd Kingdom) – Completely deserted and not using a phrase. Now thought-about a rip-off. Vigor Roads (NeuronHaze) – Kickstarter unsuccessful; early entry deliberate for 2017. Conflict of Rights (Campfire Video games) – Profitable Kickstarter; in early entry.

Star Citizen

The post Make My MMO: WoW’s esports crowdfunding, Legends of Aria’s spring delay appeared first on List Technology.

[skylight20sworldblr-blog]

Make My MMO: WoW’s esports crowdfunding, Legends of Aria’s spring delay

This week week in MMO crowdfunding, Blizzard is making its debut on this column, because it formally introduced that will probably be partially crowdfunding World of Warcraft’s upcoming esports prize swimming pools. Esports followers will already remember that different corporations – together with Riot, Valve, and Hello-Rez – have utilized group gross sales and contributions to bolster prize swimming pools earlier than, however that didn’t cease the WoW fanbase from going ballistic on the suggestion. Thanks for giving me one other probability to make use of the cash elemental pic, Blizz.

In the meantime, Legends of Aria delayed its Steam-specific early entry launch till spring and pushed out a small patch for present gamers, Shroud of the Avatar raised eyebrows with its $6999 money store package deal, Ashes of Creation plotted one other leg of Apocalypse testing, Crowfall mapped out its street to true alpha, Star Citizen talked hoverbikes and woman toons, and Elite Harmful gamers managed to crash their very own servers with their largest group occasion ever – in truth, we’ve been touring Elite ourselves in Select My Journey.

Learn on for extra on what’s been up with MMO crowdfunding during the last couple of weeks and our roundup of all of the crowdfunded MMOs we’re following!

Pantheon idea artwork

Current MMO crowdfunding information

Blizzard lays out World of Warcraft’s esports 2019 plans, will crowdfund half of prize swimming pools – Though Blizzard might have reduce on esports help for Heroes of the Storm, World of Warcraft’s esports scene is again and larger than ever in 2019, and the studio… Star Citizen: Hoverbikes, feminine character fashions, and merchandise insurance coverage – Who do you’re keen on now? HOVERBIKES. Sure, one of the important thing bits from this week’s Star Citizen Across the Verse episode focuses on the design and improvement of hoverbikes. Sorry,… Ashes of Creation: Apocalypse plans open beta 2 for the top of January – Did not get your fill of Ashes of Creation’s Apocalypse battle royale final spherical? Right here comes one other beta occasion to cap off the month, operating from January 24th to 27th. Intrepid… ArtCraft outlines Crowfall’s (surprisingly brief) street to alpha 6.zero – Whilst a Crowfall backer, I have been sometimes confused concerning the recreation’s check standing, particularly after it missed two of its unique deliberate soft-launch home windows within the final couple of… Legends of Aria’s Steam early entry launch is now slated for spring – The testing via early entry continues for Legends of Aria, and that features determining the schedule for the sport’s patches and supreme launch. The newest information from the group is… Path of Exile particulars the caster-heavy class breakdown within the Betrayal league – With each Path of Exile league, the designers take the time to dissect the general stability of courses discovered all through the sport in numerous permutations, and Betrayal is not any exception to… Pantheon maps out 2019, promising new web site, Faerthale improvement, and extra – Brad McQuaid’s Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is kicking off 2019 with a brand new version of its publication that recaps 2018 – together with our personal hands-on at PAX East (tl;dr: We… Camelot Unchained recaps reabilitation, trebuchets, dances, and ongoing testing – The Friday up to date for Camelot Unchained wasn’t truly posted till Monday, however hey, we’ll take it, am I proper? Metropolis State Leisure’s Tyler Rockwell recaps the continued beta one part… Select My Journey: The lonesome job of star charting in Elite Harmful – Immediately’s version of Select My Journey options outcomes that have been each a landslide and very shut. On the one hand, most individuals prompt that I commerce in my present ship… Darkish and Mild is closing down 70% of its early entry servers – Snail Video games’ early entry MMO Darkish and Mild has suffered a couple of rising pains throughout its improvement. The corporate initially introduced it was resurrecting the 2004 MMO again in 2016;… Shroud of the Avatar plans a hefty money store overhaul, consists of $6999 package deal to help episode 2 – Shroud of the Avatar’s enterprise mannequin is seemingly getting a bit of an overhaul. As the sport’s newest publication explains, Portalarium is altering issues as much as higher align with different… So many individuals confirmed up for Elite Harmful’ Distant Worlds 2 occasion that the servers went growth – Elite Harmful’ large Distant Worlds 2 expedition is formally underway. Almost 11,000 gamers – and builders! – finally signed up for the voyage, which set out yesterday. As we have beforehand… Crowfall devs dig into optimization points, marketing campaign stability, and extra in new interview – Are you a Crowfall fan who loves Artcraft’s common Q&A movies however finds that they all the time depart you wanting extra? Then boy are you in for a deal with as a result of Crowfall…

Elite Harmful expedition

1st Day down of my journey with the DW2 Expedition. Right here is one of the pics I took on the best way. from EliteDangerous

Campaigns and crowdfunded MMOs we’re watching

3001SQ (Société des Mondes Virtuels) – Kickstarter unsuccessful, dev halted in 2018. AdventureQuest 3D (Artix Leisure) – Raised 368okay; beta started Oct 2016. Albion On-line (Sandbox) – Launched July 2017, hit Steam Might 2018. Antraxx (Staff Antraxx) – Kickstarter canceled. Ascent: The Area Recreation (Fluffy Kitten Studios) – Profitable KS. Absolutely launched 2016. Ashes of Creation (Intrepid Studios) – Profitable KS. Alpha zero. Broke Protocol (Cylinder) – Unsuccessful KS. In free early entry. Camelot Unchained (Metropolis State) – Kickstarter profitable; open donations/packages. Caribbean Conquest (Invenio) – First KS canceled, second ended unsuccessfully. Codename Actuality (Orode) – Kickstarter unsuccessful. Contested Area (Zon) Crowfall (ArtCraft) – Kickstarter win, open packages, Indiegogo crowdfunding ongoing. Chronicles of Elyria (Soulbound) – Kickstarter profitable, open packages. Citadel of Sorcery (MMO Magic, Inc.) – Open donations. Metropolis of Titans (Lacking Worlds Media) – Profitable KS; Situation zero delayed into 2019. Descent Underground (Descendent Studios) – Profitable KS. Divergence On-line (Stained Glass Llama) – Three campaigns; now in KS early entry. Dogma: Everlasting Night time (Prelude Video games Manufacturing unit): Kickstarter. In all probability lifeless. Dragon of Legends (Thrive Video games) – Profitable Kickstarter. Twin Universe (Novaquark) – Kickstarter funded, donor platform. Backer alpha. Eco (Unusual Loop Video games) – Funded, now in alpha. Edengrad (Huckleberry Video games) – Kickstarter funded; in early entry. Elite: Harmful (Frontier Developments) – Funded and absolutely launched. Empyrion On-line (Eleon) – Kickstarter canceled; launched on Steam early entry. Countless Trials (Hearth Hurts) – Kickstarter canceled. Epic Area (EpicSpace.internet) EverFeud (PSB) – Kickstarter canceled. Ever, Jane (three Flip Productions) – Now in open beta. Fractured (Dynamight) – Kickstarter profitable. Pre-alpha. International Adventures (SubaGames) – Kickstarter funded. Gloria Victis (Black Eye Video games) – Open donations, no finish date; in early entry. Greed Monger (Greed Monger) – Deserted, now allegedly in refund course of. Grim Daybreak (Crate Leisure) – Funded and launched. Guardians of Ember (Runewaker) – Funded and launched. Weapons of Icarus (Muse) – Funded and launched. Hero’s Music (Pixelmage) – KS canceled; Indiegogo. Canceled w/ refunds. Infinity: Battlescape (I-Novae Studios) HEX (HEX Leisure) – Funded and launched. Legends of Aria (Citadel Studios) – Kickstarted as Shards On-line. Early entry. Life is Feudal (Bitbox): Indiegogo ended. Presently in beta. LUX (Chimera) – Kickstarter canceled. Maestros of the Anthymn (String Concept) – Kickstarter canceled. Maguss (Maguss) – Indiegogo profitable; open beta. Mekria (Infinity On-line Studios) – Kickstarter canceled. Midair (Archetype Studios) – Kickstarter profitable. Nebula On-line (Mizar Video games) Kickstarter canceled; launched in November. Neo’s Land (NeoJac Leisure) – Open donations, no finish date. Novus AEterno (Taitale Studios) OrbusVR (Advert Alternum) – KS funded March 2017. In early entry. Overpower (Hydrant Video games) – Kickstarter unfunded; heading to early entry. Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen (Visionary Realms) – Open donations. Pre-alpha. Pantropy (Mind Stone GmbH): First Kickstarter canceled, second funded. Pathfinder On-line (GoblinWorks) – Doom, principally. Planet Nomads (Craneballs) – Kickstarted, early entry launched sans multiplayer. Pixel Starships (SavySoda) Challenge Gorgon (Elder Recreation) – Kickstarted in three tries + Indiegogo. Early entry. Venture Oasis World (POW) – Kickstarter unsuccessful. Pumpkin On-line (Monique) – Downgrading from MMORPG. Temtem (Crema) – Kickstarter absolutely funded; now in alpha. The Exiled (Fairytale Distillery) – fka Das Tal; KS unsuccessful. Early entry. The Flower of Knighthood – Kickstarter canceled. The Realm: Reawakened (Stephen Nichols) – Ongoing GoFundMe. The Repopulation (Concept Fabrik) – Kickstarted twice by A&B. Again in alpha. ROKH (Darewise) – Kickstarter canceled; in  early entry however not lively dev. RUiN (Tarhead Studio) – Kickstarter profitable. The Stomping Land (Alex Fundora) – Deserted. Sacrament (Ferocity Unbound) – Kickstarter failed; Patreon ongoing. Saga of Lucimia (Stormhaven) – Indiegogo. Intermittent pre-alphas. Shadow’s Kiss (Clockwork Throne) – Ongoing Patreon, Kickstarter funded. Shroud of the Avatar (Portalarium) – Delicate launch July 2016. Launch March 2018. Squadron 42 (Cloud Imperium) – Beta delayed till a minimum of 2020. Star Citizen (Cloud Imperium) – Ongoing donations/packages. Backer alpha. TUG (Nerd Kingdom) – Completely deserted and not using a phrase. Now thought-about a rip-off. Vigor Roads (NeuronHaze) – Kickstarter unsuccessful; early entry deliberate for 2017. Conflict of Rights (Campfire Video games) – Profitable Kickstarter; in early entry.

Star Citizen

The post Make My MMO: WoW’s esports crowdfunding, Legends of Aria’s spring delay appeared first on List Technology.

[nxthingtxwn]

//Round 3

The following book and video game muses are being retired.

Hermione Granger (Harry Potter)

Lavender Brown (Harry Potter)

Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter)

Nymphadora Tonks (Harry Potter)

Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games)

Pasadena O'Possum (Crash Bandicoot)

Tawna Bandicoot (Crash Bandicoot - Main Universe)

Yaya Panda (Crash Bandicoot)

Casey Lynch (Guitar Hero)

Echo Tesla (Guitar Hero)

Judy Nails (Guitar Hero)

Kitty Smash (DJ Hero)

Midori (Guitar Hero)

Pandora (Guitar Hero)

Pixie Dust (DJ Hero)

Shirley Crowley (Guitar Hero)

Brigitte Lindholm (Overwatch)

Alpha Prelude (Crush Crush)

Babybelle Valentine (Crush Crush)

Caitlin (Crush Crush)

Elle Reed (Crush Crush)

Mio Farrow (Crush Crush)

Odango (Crush Crush)

Sirina (Crush Crush)

Tessa (Crush Crush)

Momo (HuniePop)

Vanny (FNAF)

Sarvente (Friday Night Funkin')

Azazel (Helltaker)

Cerberus (Helltaker)

Justice (Helltaker)

Loremaster (Helltaker)

Mad Mew Mew (Undertale)

Muffet (Undertale)

Undyne (Undertale)

Himari Nakamura (Yandere Simulator OC)

Horuda Puresu (Yandere Simulator)

Nemesis (Yandere Simulator)

Oka Ruto (Yandere Simulator)

Pippi Osu (Yandere Simulator)

Princess Peach (Mario)

Vivian (Mario)

Dawn (Pokemon)

Gardevoir (Pokemon)

Hilda (Pokemon)

Leaf (Pokemon)

Lyra (Pokemon)

May Birch (Pokemon)

Misty (Pokemon)

Agent 3 (Splatoon)

Agent 4 (Splatoon)

Amy Sorel (SoulCalibur)

Ashlotte Maedel (SoulCalibur)

Cassandra Alexandra (SoulCalibur)

Pyrrha Alexandra (SoulCalibur)

Eliza (Tekken)

Lucky Chloe (Tekken)

Illyasviel von Einzbern (Fate)

Rider Medusa (Fate)

The Boss (Saints Row)

Jenny Jaros (Saints Row)

//Muse Purge: Round 1

The following muses from animated properties are being retired.

Stella (Interstella 5555)

Hanayo Koizumi (Love Live)

Honoka Kosaka (Love Live)

Nozomi Tojo (Love Live)

Elma Joui (Dragon Maid)

Kanna Kamui (Dragon Maid)

Tohru Kobayashi (Dragon Maid)

Centorea Shianus (Monster Musume)

Zombina the Zombie (Monster Musume)

Barby (Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt)

Kyoko Sakura (Madoka Magica)

Mami Tomoe (Madoka Magica)

Nagisa Momoe (Madoka Magica)

Sayaka Miki (Madoka Magica)

Hana Uzaki (Uzaki-chan Wants To Hang Out!0

Honeymaren Nattura (Frozen II)

Taffyta Muttonfudge (Wreck-It Ralph)

Vanellope von Schweetz (Wreck-It Ralph)

Judy Hopps (Zootopia)

Axca (Voltron)

Ezor (Voltron)

Narti (Voltron)

Katara (Avatar)

Toph Beifong (Avatar)

Dani Phantom (Danny Phantom)

Sam Sharp (The Loud House)

Amethyst (Steven Universe)

Peridot (Steven Universe)

Spinel (Steven Universe)

Turquoise (Steven Universe OC)

Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel)

Charlie Morningstar (Hazbin Hotel)

Cherri Bomb (Hazbin Hotel)

Mrs. Mayberry (Helluva Boss)

Octavia Goetic (Helluva Boss)

Vaggie (Hazbin Hotel)

Verosika Mayday (Helluva Boss)

Amy Wong (Futurama)

Turanga Leela (Futurama)

Cammie MacCloud (GenLock)

Cyborg Noodle (Gorillaz)

Noodle (Gorillaz)

Mavis Dracula (Hotel Transylvania)

Shiromori (Mystery Skulls Animated)

Heidi Turner (South Park)

Leslie Meyers (South Park)

[jimeshbathija3896-blog]

Make My MMO: WoW’s esports crowdfunding, Legends of Aria’s spring delay

This week week in MMO crowdfunding, Blizzard is making its debut on this column, because it formally introduced that will probably be partially crowdfunding World of Warcraft’s upcoming esports prize swimming pools. Esports followers will already remember that different corporations – together with Riot, Valve, and Hello-Rez – have utilized group gross sales and contributions to bolster prize swimming pools earlier than, however that didn’t cease the WoW fanbase from going ballistic on the suggestion. Thanks for giving me one other probability to make use of the cash elemental pic, Blizz.

In the meantime, Legends of Aria delayed its Steam-specific early entry launch till spring and pushed out a small patch for present gamers, Shroud of the Avatar raised eyebrows with its $6999 money store package deal, Ashes of Creation plotted one other leg of Apocalypse testing, Crowfall mapped out its street to true alpha, Star Citizen talked hoverbikes and woman toons, and Elite Harmful gamers managed to crash their very own servers with their largest group occasion ever – in truth, we’ve been touring Elite ourselves in Select My Journey.

Learn on for extra on what’s been up with MMO crowdfunding during the last couple of weeks and our roundup of all of the crowdfunded MMOs we’re following!

Pantheon idea artwork

Current MMO crowdfunding information

Blizzard lays out World of Warcraft’s esports 2019 plans, will crowdfund half of prize swimming pools – Though Blizzard might have reduce on esports help for Heroes of the Storm, World of Warcraft’s esports scene is again and larger than ever in 2019, and the studio… Star Citizen: Hoverbikes, feminine character fashions, and merchandise insurance coverage – Who do you’re keen on now? HOVERBIKES. Sure, one of the important thing bits from this week’s Star Citizen Across the Verse episode focuses on the design and improvement of hoverbikes. Sorry,… Ashes of Creation: Apocalypse plans open beta 2 for the top of January – Did not get your fill of Ashes of Creation’s Apocalypse battle royale final spherical? Right here comes one other beta occasion to cap off the month, operating from January 24th to 27th. Intrepid… ArtCraft outlines Crowfall’s (surprisingly brief) street to alpha 6.zero – Whilst a Crowfall backer, I have been sometimes confused concerning the recreation’s check standing, particularly after it missed two of its unique deliberate soft-launch home windows within the final couple of… Legends of Aria’s Steam early entry launch is now slated for spring – The testing via early entry continues for Legends of Aria, and that features determining the schedule for the sport’s patches and supreme launch. The newest information from the group is… Path of Exile particulars the caster-heavy class breakdown within the Betrayal league – With each Path of Exile league, the designers take the time to dissect the general stability of courses discovered all through the sport in numerous permutations, and Betrayal is not any exception to… Pantheon maps out 2019, promising new web site, Faerthale improvement, and extra – Brad McQuaid’s Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is kicking off 2019 with a brand new version of its publication that recaps 2018 – together with our personal hands-on at PAX East (tl;dr: We… Camelot Unchained recaps reabilitation, trebuchets, dances, and ongoing testing – The Friday up to date for Camelot Unchained wasn’t truly posted till Monday, however hey, we’ll take it, am I proper? Metropolis State Leisure’s Tyler Rockwell recaps the continued beta one part… Select My Journey: The lonesome job of star charting in Elite Harmful – Immediately’s version of Select My Journey options outcomes that have been each a landslide and very shut. On the one hand, most individuals prompt that I commerce in my present ship… Darkish and Mild is closing down 70% of its early entry servers – Snail Video games’ early entry MMO Darkish and Mild has suffered a couple of rising pains throughout its improvement. The corporate initially introduced it was resurrecting the 2004 MMO again in 2016;… Shroud of the Avatar plans a hefty money store overhaul, consists of $6999 package deal to help episode 2 – Shroud of the Avatar’s enterprise mannequin is seemingly getting a bit of an overhaul. As the sport’s newest publication explains, Portalarium is altering issues as much as higher align with different… So many individuals confirmed up for Elite Harmful’ Distant Worlds 2 occasion that the servers went growth – Elite Harmful’ large Distant Worlds 2 expedition is formally underway. Almost 11,000 gamers – and builders! – finally signed up for the voyage, which set out yesterday. As we have beforehand… Crowfall devs dig into optimization points, marketing campaign stability, and extra in new interview – Are you a Crowfall fan who loves Artcraft’s common Q&A movies however finds that they all the time depart you wanting extra? Then boy are you in for a deal with as a result of Crowfall…

Elite Harmful expedition

1st Day down of my journey with the DW2 Expedition. Right here is one of the pics I took on the best way. from EliteDangerous

Campaigns and crowdfunded MMOs we’re watching

3001SQ (Société des Mondes Virtuels) – Kickstarter unsuccessful, dev halted in 2018. AdventureQuest 3D (Artix Leisure) – Raised 368okay; beta started Oct 2016. Albion On-line (Sandbox) – Launched July 2017, hit Steam Might 2018. Antraxx (Staff Antraxx) – Kickstarter canceled. Ascent: The Area Recreation (Fluffy Kitten Studios) – Profitable KS. Absolutely launched 2016. Ashes of Creation (Intrepid Studios) – Profitable KS. Alpha zero. Broke Protocol (Cylinder) – Unsuccessful KS. In free early entry. Camelot Unchained (Metropolis State) – Kickstarter profitable; open donations/packages. Caribbean Conquest (Invenio) – First KS canceled, second ended unsuccessfully. Codename Actuality (Orode) – Kickstarter unsuccessful. Contested Area (Zon) Crowfall (ArtCraft) – Kickstarter win, open packages, Indiegogo crowdfunding ongoing. Chronicles of Elyria (Soulbound) – Kickstarter profitable, open packages. Citadel of Sorcery (MMO Magic, Inc.) – Open donations. Metropolis of Titans (Lacking Worlds Media) – Profitable KS; Situation zero delayed into 2019. Descent Underground (Descendent Studios) – Profitable KS. Divergence On-line (Stained Glass Llama) – Three campaigns; now in KS early entry. Dogma: Everlasting Night time (Prelude Video games Manufacturing unit): Kickstarter. In all probability lifeless. Dragon of Legends (Thrive Video games) – Profitable Kickstarter. Twin Universe (Novaquark) – Kickstarter funded, donor platform. Backer alpha. Eco (Unusual Loop Video games) – Funded, now in alpha. Edengrad (Huckleberry Video games) – Kickstarter funded; in early entry. Elite: Harmful (Frontier Developments) – Funded and absolutely launched. Empyrion On-line (Eleon) – Kickstarter canceled; launched on Steam early entry. Countless Trials (Hearth Hurts) – Kickstarter canceled. Epic Area (EpicSpace.internet) EverFeud (PSB) – Kickstarter canceled. Ever, Jane (three Flip Productions) – Now in open beta. Fractured (Dynamight) – Kickstarter profitable. Pre-alpha. International Adventures (SubaGames) – Kickstarter funded. Gloria Victis (Black Eye Video games) – Open donations, no finish date; in early entry. Greed Monger (Greed Monger) – Deserted, now allegedly in refund course of. Grim Daybreak (Crate Leisure) – Funded and launched. Guardians of Ember (Runewaker) – Funded and launched. Weapons of Icarus (Muse) – Funded and launched. Hero’s Music (Pixelmage) – KS canceled; Indiegogo. Canceled w/ refunds. Infinity: Battlescape (I-Novae Studios) HEX (HEX Leisure) – Funded and launched. Legends of Aria (Citadel Studios) – Kickstarted as Shards On-line. Early entry. Life is Feudal (Bitbox): Indiegogo ended. Presently in beta. LUX (Chimera) – Kickstarter canceled. Maestros of the Anthymn (String Concept) – Kickstarter canceled. Maguss (Maguss) – Indiegogo profitable; open beta. Mekria (Infinity On-line Studios) – Kickstarter canceled. Midair (Archetype Studios) – Kickstarter profitable. Nebula On-line (Mizar Video games) Kickstarter canceled; launched in November. Neo’s Land (NeoJac Leisure) – Open donations, no finish date. Novus AEterno (Taitale Studios) OrbusVR (Advert Alternum) – KS funded March 2017. In early entry. Overpower (Hydrant Video games) – Kickstarter unfunded; heading to early entry. Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen (Visionary Realms) – Open donations. Pre-alpha. Pantropy (Mind Stone GmbH): First Kickstarter canceled, second funded. Pathfinder On-line (GoblinWorks) – Doom, principally. Planet Nomads (Craneballs) – Kickstarted, early entry launched sans multiplayer. Pixel Starships (SavySoda) Challenge Gorgon (Elder Recreation) – Kickstarted in three tries + Indiegogo. Early entry. Venture Oasis World (POW) – Kickstarter unsuccessful. Pumpkin On-line (Monique) – Downgrading from MMORPG. Temtem (Crema) – Kickstarter absolutely funded; now in alpha. The Exiled (Fairytale Distillery) – fka Das Tal; KS unsuccessful. Early entry. The Flower of Knighthood – Kickstarter canceled. The Realm: Reawakened (Stephen Nichols) – Ongoing GoFundMe. The Repopulation (Concept Fabrik) – Kickstarted twice by A&B. Again in alpha. ROKH (Darewise) – Kickstarter canceled; in  early entry however not lively dev. RUiN (Tarhead Studio) – Kickstarter profitable. The Stomping Land (Alex Fundora) – Deserted. Sacrament (Ferocity Unbound) – Kickstarter failed; Patreon ongoing. Saga of Lucimia (Stormhaven) – Indiegogo. Intermittent pre-alphas. Shadow’s Kiss (Clockwork Throne) – Ongoing Patreon, Kickstarter funded. Shroud of the Avatar (Portalarium) – Delicate launch July 2016. Launch March 2018. Squadron 42 (Cloud Imperium) – Beta delayed till a minimum of 2020. Star Citizen (Cloud Imperium) – Ongoing donations/packages. Backer alpha. TUG (Nerd Kingdom) – Completely deserted and not using a phrase. Now thought-about a rip-off. Vigor Roads (NeuronHaze) – Kickstarter unsuccessful; early entry deliberate for 2017. Conflict of Rights (Campfire Video games) – Profitable Kickstarter; in early entry.

Star Citizen

The post Make My MMO: WoW’s esports crowdfunding, Legends of Aria’s spring delay appeared first on List Technology.

[superplhis-blog]

Make My MMO: WoW’s esports crowdfunding, Legends of Aria’s spring delay

This week week in MMO crowdfunding, Blizzard is making its debut on this column, because it formally introduced that will probably be partially crowdfunding World of Warcraft’s upcoming esports prize swimming pools. Esports followers will already remember that different corporations – together with Riot, Valve, and Hello-Rez – have utilized group gross sales and contributions to bolster prize swimming pools earlier than, however that didn’t cease the WoW fanbase from going ballistic on the suggestion. Thanks for giving me one other probability to make use of the cash elemental pic, Blizz.

In the meantime, Legends of Aria delayed its Steam-specific early entry launch till spring and pushed out a small patch for present gamers, Shroud of the Avatar raised eyebrows with its $6999 money store package deal, Ashes of Creation plotted one other leg of Apocalypse testing, Crowfall mapped out its street to true alpha, Star Citizen talked hoverbikes and woman toons, and Elite Harmful gamers managed to crash their very own servers with their largest group occasion ever – in truth, we’ve been touring Elite ourselves in Select My Journey.

Learn on for extra on what’s been up with MMO crowdfunding during the last couple of weeks and our roundup of all of the crowdfunded MMOs we’re following!

Pantheon idea artwork

Current MMO crowdfunding information

Blizzard lays out World of Warcraft’s esports 2019 plans, will crowdfund half of prize swimming pools – Though Blizzard might have reduce on esports help for Heroes of the Storm, World of Warcraft’s esports scene is again and larger than ever in 2019, and the studio… Star Citizen: Hoverbikes, feminine character fashions, and merchandise insurance coverage – Who do you’re keen on now? HOVERBIKES. Sure, one of the important thing bits from this week’s Star Citizen Across the Verse episode focuses on the design and improvement of hoverbikes. Sorry,… Ashes of Creation: Apocalypse plans open beta 2 for the top of January – Did not get your fill of Ashes of Creation’s Apocalypse battle royale final spherical? Right here comes one other beta occasion to cap off the month, operating from January 24th to 27th. Intrepid… ArtCraft outlines Crowfall’s (surprisingly brief) street to alpha 6.zero – Whilst a Crowfall backer, I have been sometimes confused concerning the recreation’s check standing, particularly after it missed two of its unique deliberate soft-launch home windows within the final couple of… Legends of Aria’s Steam early entry launch is now slated for spring – The testing via early entry continues for Legends of Aria, and that features determining the schedule for the sport’s patches and supreme launch. The newest information from the group is… Path of Exile particulars the caster-heavy class breakdown within the Betrayal league – With each Path of Exile league, the designers take the time to dissect the general stability of courses discovered all through the sport in numerous permutations, and Betrayal is not any exception to… Pantheon maps out 2019, promising new web site, Faerthale improvement, and extra – Brad McQuaid’s Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is kicking off 2019 with a brand new version of its publication that recaps 2018 – together with our personal hands-on at PAX East (tl;dr: We… Camelot Unchained recaps reabilitation, trebuchets, dances, and ongoing testing – The Friday up to date for Camelot Unchained wasn’t truly posted till Monday, however hey, we’ll take it, am I proper? Metropolis State Leisure’s Tyler Rockwell recaps the continued beta one part… Select My Journey: The lonesome job of star charting in Elite Harmful – Immediately’s version of Select My Journey options outcomes that have been each a landslide and very shut. On the one hand, most individuals prompt that I commerce in my present ship… Darkish and Mild is closing down 70% of its early entry servers – Snail Video games’ early entry MMO Darkish and Mild has suffered a couple of rising pains throughout its improvement. The corporate initially introduced it was resurrecting the 2004 MMO again in 2016;… Shroud of the Avatar plans a hefty money store overhaul, consists of $6999 package deal to help episode 2 – Shroud of the Avatar’s enterprise mannequin is seemingly getting a bit of an overhaul. As the sport’s newest publication explains, Portalarium is altering issues as much as higher align with different… So many individuals confirmed up for Elite Harmful’ Distant Worlds 2 occasion that the servers went growth – Elite Harmful’ large Distant Worlds 2 expedition is formally underway. Almost 11,000 gamers – and builders! – finally signed up for the voyage, which set out yesterday. As we have beforehand… Crowfall devs dig into optimization points, marketing campaign stability, and extra in new interview – Are you a Crowfall fan who loves Artcraft’s common Q&A movies however finds that they all the time depart you wanting extra? Then boy are you in for a deal with as a result of Crowfall…

Elite Harmful expedition

1st Day down of my journey with the DW2 Expedition. Right here is one of the pics I took on the best way. from EliteDangerous

Campaigns and crowdfunded MMOs we’re watching

3001SQ (Société des Mondes Virtuels) – Kickstarter unsuccessful, dev halted in 2018. AdventureQuest 3D (Artix Leisure) – Raised 368okay; beta started Oct 2016. Albion On-line (Sandbox) – Launched July 2017, hit Steam Might 2018. Antraxx (Staff Antraxx) – Kickstarter canceled. Ascent: The Area Recreation (Fluffy Kitten Studios) – Profitable KS. Absolutely launched 2016. Ashes of Creation (Intrepid Studios) – Profitable KS. Alpha zero. Broke Protocol (Cylinder) – Unsuccessful KS. In free early entry. Camelot Unchained (Metropolis State) – Kickstarter profitable; open donations/packages. Caribbean Conquest (Invenio) – First KS canceled, second ended unsuccessfully. Codename Actuality (Orode) – Kickstarter unsuccessful. Contested Area (Zon) Crowfall (ArtCraft) – Kickstarter win, open packages, Indiegogo crowdfunding ongoing. Chronicles of Elyria (Soulbound) – Kickstarter profitable, open packages. Citadel of Sorcery (MMO Magic, Inc.) – Open donations. Metropolis of Titans (Lacking Worlds Media) – Profitable KS; Situation zero delayed into 2019. Descent Underground (Descendent Studios) – Profitable KS. Divergence On-line (Stained Glass Llama) – Three campaigns; now in KS early entry. Dogma: Everlasting Night time (Prelude Video games Manufacturing unit): Kickstarter. In all probability lifeless. Dragon of Legends (Thrive Video games) – Profitable Kickstarter. Twin Universe (Novaquark) – Kickstarter funded, donor platform. Backer alpha. Eco (Unusual Loop Video games) – Funded, now in alpha. Edengrad (Huckleberry Video games) – Kickstarter funded; in early entry. Elite: Harmful (Frontier Developments) – Funded and absolutely launched. Empyrion On-line (Eleon) – Kickstarter canceled; launched on Steam early entry. Countless Trials (Hearth Hurts) – Kickstarter canceled. Epic Area (EpicSpace.internet) EverFeud (PSB) – Kickstarter canceled. Ever, Jane (three Flip Productions) – Now in open beta. Fractured (Dynamight) – Kickstarter profitable. Pre-alpha. International Adventures (SubaGames) – Kickstarter funded. Gloria Victis (Black Eye Video games) – Open donations, no finish date; in early entry. Greed Monger (Greed Monger) – Deserted, now allegedly in refund course of. Grim Daybreak (Crate Leisure) – Funded and launched. Guardians of Ember (Runewaker) – Funded and launched. Weapons of Icarus (Muse) – Funded and launched. Hero’s Music (Pixelmage) – KS canceled; Indiegogo. Canceled w/ refunds. Infinity: Battlescape (I-Novae Studios) HEX (HEX Leisure) – Funded and launched. Legends of Aria (Citadel Studios) – Kickstarted as Shards On-line. Early entry. Life is Feudal (Bitbox): Indiegogo ended. Presently in beta. LUX (Chimera) – Kickstarter canceled. Maestros of the Anthymn (String Concept) – Kickstarter canceled. Maguss (Maguss) – Indiegogo profitable; open beta. Mekria (Infinity On-line Studios) – Kickstarter canceled. Midair (Archetype Studios) – Kickstarter profitable. Nebula On-line (Mizar Video games) Kickstarter canceled; launched in November. Neo’s Land (NeoJac Leisure) – Open donations, no finish date. Novus AEterno (Taitale Studios) OrbusVR (Advert Alternum) – KS funded March 2017. In early entry. Overpower (Hydrant Video games) – Kickstarter unfunded; heading to early entry. Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen (Visionary Realms) – Open donations. Pre-alpha. Pantropy (Mind Stone GmbH): First Kickstarter canceled, second funded. Pathfinder On-line (GoblinWorks) – Doom, principally. Planet Nomads (Craneballs) – Kickstarted, early entry launched sans multiplayer. Pixel Starships (SavySoda) Challenge Gorgon (Elder Recreation) – Kickstarted in three tries + Indiegogo. Early entry. Venture Oasis World (POW) – Kickstarter unsuccessful. Pumpkin On-line (Monique) – Downgrading from MMORPG. Temtem (Crema) – Kickstarter absolutely funded; now in alpha. The Exiled (Fairytale Distillery) – fka Das Tal; KS unsuccessful. Early entry. The Flower of Knighthood – Kickstarter canceled. The Realm: Reawakened (Stephen Nichols) – Ongoing GoFundMe. The Repopulation (Concept Fabrik) – Kickstarted twice by A&B. Again in alpha. ROKH (Darewise) – Kickstarter canceled; in  early entry however not lively dev. RUiN (Tarhead Studio) – Kickstarter profitable. The Stomping Land (Alex Fundora) – Deserted. Sacrament (Ferocity Unbound) – Kickstarter failed; Patreon ongoing. Saga of Lucimia (Stormhaven) – Indiegogo. Intermittent pre-alphas. Shadow’s Kiss (Clockwork Throne) – Ongoing Patreon, Kickstarter funded. Shroud of the Avatar (Portalarium) – Delicate launch July 2016. Launch March 2018. Squadron 42 (Cloud Imperium) – Beta delayed till a minimum of 2020. Star Citizen (Cloud Imperium) – Ongoing donations/packages. Backer alpha. TUG (Nerd Kingdom) – Completely deserted and not using a phrase. Now thought-about a rip-off. Vigor Roads (NeuronHaze) – Kickstarter unsuccessful; early entry deliberate for 2017. Conflict of Rights (Campfire Video games) – Profitable Kickstarter; in early entry.

Star Citizen

The post Make My MMO: WoW’s esports crowdfunding, Legends of Aria’s spring delay appeared first on List Technology.