Geek Chat: Interview with Steve Johnson and Leighton Connor of Hex Games Part 2

And now for Part 2 of my interview with Steve Johnson and Leighton Connor of Hex Games. Part 1 showed us how Hex came together and their process of bending genres and coming up with new ideas. In Part 2, the guys discuss where they see the company going from here, their convention experiences, and women in tabletop gaming.

Newly released from Hex Games is Dynateens: Surf Force, which is available at Drive-Thru RPG.

When the evil forces of Megalodon the Mighty threaten the submarine city of New Atlantis, a team of super-powered teenagers, the Dynateens, arise to meet that threat. But are they strong enough to defeat the Great Shark menace and save humanity?

Dynateens: Surf Force is an action-packed game of aquatic adventure designed for use with the QAGS Second Edition rules. It includes background on the setting, rules for creating Dynateen characters, genre tropes, sample characters, adventure templates, character sheets, and more!

Dynateens: Surf Force is written by Ian “Aces & Apes” Engle and illustrated by Joshua LH Burnett, with a cover by James Hornsby.

Go go, Dynateens!

Be sure to enter to win a copy of Dynateens and QAGS 2nd edition! Details about the contest are at the bottom of the interview!

Geek Chat: Interview with Steve Johnson and Leighton Connor of Hex Games Part 1

I met Steve Johnson, Operations Director of Hex Games, at a convention a few years ago when I attended a couple of Hex's sessions in the gaming track. I learned that we were alumni of the same college and I've kept up with the goings on of the company over the last few years. The folks at Hex have been very supportive of Kentucky Geek Girl and I'm delighted to feature their new release, Dynateens: Surf Force here on the blog.

From Drive-Thru RPG:

When the evil forces of Megalodon the Mighty threaten the submarine city of New Atlantis, a team of super-powered teenagers, the Dynateens, arise to meet that threat. But are they strong enough to defeat the Great Shark menace and save humanity?

Dynateens: Surf Force is an action-packed game of aquatic adventure designed for use with the QAGS Second Edition rules. It includes background on the setting, rules for creating Dynateen characters, genre tropes, sample characters, adventure templates, character sheets, and more!

Dynateens: Surf Force is written by Ian “Aces & Apes” Engle and illustrated by Joshua LH Burnett, with a cover by James Hornsby.

Go go, Dynateens!

I'm delighted to be joined on the blog today by Steve and Leighton Connor, Creative Director, as they shed some insight on how Hex came together, their creative process, and their convention experiences. I'll have info on how you can win a copy of Dynateens and QAGs Second Edition at the end of the interview!

Get Your Gamer Geek On This Weekend at FORGE

It's a good weekend to be a geek. Not only was yesterday Star Wars Day, Geek Pride Day, and Towel Day, but the first annual FORGE Gaming Convention is being held this weekend at the Hyatt Regency in Downtown Lexington, Kentucky. Gaming stores Amazing Wonders and Cosmic Oasis among other local vendors will be set up hosting games. Whether you are a total n00b or seasoned gamer, FORGE is celebrating all things gaming. D&D, Pathfinder, and Savage Worlds will be just three of the platforms that you'll be able to play, but there will also be Collectible Card Games, Board Games, and a whole host of events at Forge. Deadly Sins Burlesque, Tinder Box Circus Sideshow, and Drunk & Sailor will be performing as well. On the whole, it's going to be an absolutely fantastic event. One day has already past and the fun continues through Sunday evening at 4 PM.

Diablo Declares His Wrath

Today's the day: Diablo III has finally been released, having first been announced in 2008 at Blizzard's World Wide Invitational in Paris. In the live launch party last night in Irvine, California, Chris Metzen, Vice President of Creative Development at Blizzard, said that he has been preparing for the Diablo III release since the first game in 1996. For those not familiar with the game, Matthew Rossi over at WoW Insider has put together a great primer on the world of Sanctuary and just who Diablo, Lord of Terror really is. Diablo III: Wrath is a video released by Blizzard also helps to shed light on some of the back story as well as providing some awesome visuals.

Game of Thrones RPG on the way

Since I began immersing myself in the Kingdom of Westeros by reading "A Song of Ice and Fire" and watching "Game of Thrones" I began to imagine what it would be like to play a video game based on George R.R. Martin's epic story. Those who have been jonesing for an ASOIAF video game will not have to wait much longer. Cyanide Studios recently released a real-time strategy game based on the series, and are developing an RPG that is slated to come out in quarter one 2012. The game takes the information that we already have about The Seven Kingdoms and weaves in original characters. One of the great things about this game is that the story is being written in conjunction with the man himself, George R. R. Martin.

Code for discount on products from DriveThruRPG.com!

1. We are now affiliates of DriveThruRPG.com and will be part of their blog program. What this means for you, oh gentle readers, is that we can hook you all up with reviews of hot games as well as some codes for free and discounted products! Who doesn't love free stuff?!

Around the Web: 16-Bit Game of Thrones RPG

Disclaimer: This video includes spoilers for Season 1 Game of Thrones and A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. It is also NSFW.

It's Game of Thones week at Kentucky Geek Girl and we found this awesome video on College Humor!



Not going to lie, I wish this was a real game.

First Impressions Friday (2): Arkham Horror

First Impressions is a meme hosted  at Within Pages where we take a look at all things, mostly booky, and reflect on our initial thoughts. Non-bloggers, non-book bloggers, and everyone alike can participate on any topic you'd like. Feel free to drop your links or thoughts in the comments!

Arkham Horror is a board game based on the Cthulhu mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. In doing some research about the game, I found out that it was originally released by Chaosium in 1987 and was based on their newly released Call of Cthulhu role playing game. The version I played, however, was from 2005 and was released by FantasyFlight games publisher of Battlestar Gallactica and most recently Mansions of Madness. Arkham was also one of the first board games to be released as a cooperative board game, the entire group works together to complete the game.

First Impressions Friday (1): Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

First Impressions is a meme hosted  at Within Pages where we take a look at all things, mostly booky, and reflect on our initial thoughts. Non-bloggers, non-book bloggers, and everyone alike can participate on any topic you'd like. Feel free to drop your links or thoughts in the comments!

This past week, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, commonly known as E3, was held in Los Angeles. The top executives, developers, and designers from the major electronics and video game companies met to discuss the future of the industry. Many of the concepts that are unveiled at E3 are released within the next year. One of the major portion of the expo is the release of game trailers for upcoming titles. This year, we saw trailers for new Assassins Creed, Modern Warfare and Bioshock games, just to name a very few. Also unveiled at E3 was the next generation in video game consoles. Nintendo unveiled the Wii-U and Playstation showed off their addition to the motion gaming world, the Move.

Help me celebrate one year of geekiness!

Kentucky Geek Girl is celebrating a one year blogiversary! Help me celebrate the birth of this blog (as well as my own birthday, which was May 26) by participating in my first ever giveaway! Lyndsay at Dragon Chow Dice Bags has donated a credit to her online store. That's right, you, the winner, can take home a dice bag of your very own, handmade by Lyndsay herself!

Gods & Heroes -- Beta Testing Initial Thoughts

I've been playing the in the Beta for Heatwave Interactive's new game Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising for a week or so now. As the title suggests, it is set in the world of Ancient Rome and incorporates not only historically accurate enemies such as Etruscans, but also enemies from legend such as Minotaurs and Gorgon. The game is classified currently as an MMORPG, but I have yet to see a system of naming conventions or the like for true Role Playing. I haven't seen many PCs in game, but the ones that I have seen have been very generic and akin to names that one would see in World of Warcraft today, e.g. Zombieassassin.

Character Creation

When you sit down to make your own hero, as is the case in many games, you first have to pick your class. There are four options available on the Beta: Mystic, Priest, Gladiator, and Soldier. It looks like two classes will be available when the game hits shelves, Nomad and Scout. Upon picking your class, you are then presented with two options, which will serve as factions in G&H. You are to decide which god or goddess from Roman mythology you will serve. For example, Gladiators serve either Fortuna or Jupiter. The choice of god or goddess helps to determine what some of your abilities will be. Mars grants a "purifying flame" and the ability to summon a fiery bird of some sort (assuming it's a Phoenix type creature.) I've only experienced Jupiter's "Wrath" ability so far. It's pretty cool.

[caption id="attachment_127" align="aligncenter" width="395" caption="My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius..."][/caption]

The third part of the character creation process is appearance customization. Your options here are fairly broad. There are several base faces per gender that you can choose from. Within that, you're able to completely customize each face. You can create any human race of your choosing. My first Beta character was a female gladiator named Katryona. I'm a big stickler for hairstyles but didn't see many that I actually liked. For Kat, I ended up with a low bun. It didn't really scream "gladiator," but it worked. What impressed me most was the facial features. The faces were pretty realistic, even if the hair left a bit to be desired.

Game Play

As previously stated, the game centers around the comings and goings of wartime Rome. You begin on the shore and you find out that your villa (Latin for village house) has been attacked by the enemy. Through a quest chain, you bring some of these foes to justice and find out about those who can aid you to face them. One part of this game that I find really interesting is the Minion system. The minion can function almost as a combat pet, essentially. There are apparently up to one hundred minions you can use to help defend yourself, as well as go on the offensive. It's definitely a unique system and you can earn minions through loot or quest rewards.



It's beta, so things were kind of slow, but I was fairly impressed with the quests that I've done so far. There was a great story and what drew me in was my love for Roman history. To see elements of Roman life in this game was pretty awesome. I'm not going to reveal any spoilers about the game, but I have been giving favorable reviews for the quests I've been completing based on the story aspect. Aside from the standard "Go see this person." "Go kill X number of bad guys." "Okay, now go collect X number of things." quests, it's been steady and has flowed well. Throughout the early questline, you make your way from one side of the island to the other.

Parting thoughts

I assume that this game will have a subscription upon release. Granted, I haven't played the entire game, but if I were right now to compare it to World of Warcraft, I would say that I would not pay for a subscription versus the fifteen dollars monthly for WoW. This game has its nice qualities, but it is not at this time, anywhere near comparable to games such as WoW, Rift or even Everquest. I would love to play it again on a free trial when the game is completed. I'm sure things will run more smoothly and there will be even more awesome things added in.  Please let me know your thoughts on the game!

And the wait begins...

Blizzard Entertainment has been working on Cataclysm the third expansion for World of Warcraft even before Wrath of the Lich King was released in 2008. The details were unveiled at Blizzcon 2009 and since we found out that there would be two new races, Goblin and Worgen, we've been shivering with antici...pation.


Get it? We're shivering cause it's Blizzard and not just because it's a Rocky Horror Picture Show reference. Gosh, if I have to explain it to you, half the fun is lost.

Um, I digress. New races, new race-class combinations, new lands and flying in the entirety of Azeroth?! The Cataclysm is sure to change everything that we've come to know and love. Deathwing is back and with a vengeance and everyone in the World of Warcraft isn't going to know what hit him.

But for now, we wait. Of course, Blizzard hasn't released a definitive release date as of yet, but have gone on record saying that it's on track for 2010. That being said, they also told us that it wouldn't be released until they were happy with it, meaning that it was a finished, polished product.

According to new information by MMO Champion (via Wow Insider) a new release date for Cataclysm floating around is November 2. This is the first "official" date that has been mentioned in the year since the details of Cataclysm emerged at Blizzcon 2009.

From MMO-Champion a few days ago

Keep in mind that Blizzard didn't announce it because the release can still be postponed, but as far as I know the target release date for Cataclysm is the first week of November (that would be November 2, if you like numbers). The first part of the Cataclysm prologue started exactly 8 weeks before that and the next part of the pre-Cataclysm event will probably happen in 2 or 4 weeks depending on their schedule. 

So nothing is set in stone yet, but they do make a great point about the timeline. Patch 4.0.1 just hit the Player Test Realms and I know that Tarinae over at A Healdin's Tear has downloaded it and is waiting on her character copy. (That's taking up to 4 days, btw.) I do not look for the last patch before Cataclysm to drop for another month or so in live play.

I believe that the last patch before Wrath of the Lich King dropped one month to the day before the expansion came out. That patch brought us the attunement taken out of Onyxia as well as ramped up the Scourge invasion. It also brought us the barber shops, if memory serves.

But here's the real question. Do you buy the Collector's Edition. In 2008, Tarinae stood in line for hours to get our hands on the coveted items. Granted she stood in line much longer, because I didn't skip class, but it was still a lot of fun. However, money's a bit tight this year so I don't think I'll be dropping the $80 on it, unless my mom decides that it can be an early Christmas present.

It's black... like Deathwing's soul

Granted, I really want the mousepad and the Mini Deathwing, but I don't know. As soon as we get a release date, I think I'll make up my mind.

If you take a look at the bottom, you'll see that the release date on Walmart.com was once 11/30/2010. This was Wednesday, September 1 and not 2 weeks later the news broke about a Nov 2 release. It now says 12/31/2010.

For now, we'll just wait for more news. I'm going to sift through all of the warrior and protection paladin news to bring you the latest information. I am also super excited about Archaeology, so I'll update everyone that as well.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

I started playing world of warcraft in late 2007. Back then I was a dirty alliance scum. Last September, they opened up faction transfers so I made my main character, a night elf warrior, into an undead warrior. Gave her a new rp story that she'd fallen in battle at the priest Azazoth, my friend's character, was able to resurrect her.

I had started to feel the burnout with wow last summer when I was trying to hold my alliance guild together after having been made guild leader. I had been trying to raid and was getting no where and just got pretty fed up. So, I took about a month break. Then, when I came back I started focusing on other characters. I started to level a blood elf paladin with my bff and her boyfriend and had a lot of fun.

Fast forward to March of this year. Our horde guild had been started to raid and was doing well. Very casual and my bff and I were doing some higher end stuff on the side, but I was proud of the way everyone was coming along. Well, various things happen and the raid group falls apart. Then, the ultimate happens: my computer goes kapoot.

I thought it'd be a fairly easy fix, and it would have been had I taken it to a different company. I went with a local computer repair shop because it's just down from my apartment and I'm trying to support local business. But they've had it since early March and I miss my computer a lot. I miss using Vista (not sure I'd ever utter those words) and I miss the freedom of my HP. More than that, though, I miss World of Warcraft.

I went through a withdrawl period. Then I went through the acceptance that I wouldn't be able to pull it up whenever I wanted and jump on a random character. Now, I just miss it. I play whenever I'm over at my bff Lila's house, but it's not the same. Those instances are few and far between. I wanted to do some heavy character work before the expansion came out.

Several of my friends are taking pre-expansion breaks. And I mean, I'm mostly glad I broke my habit if at least for a few months. I just hope the computer store has my poor sweet laptop back soon. For now, though, I'll just live vicariously through those who blog about wow and wait for my time to come again.