Defiance

[Morreion]

Defiance (Trion Worlds)

DEFIANCE™ is the first multi-platform shooter MMO, that in a ground-breaking entertainment experience, interconnects with a global television program on Syfy. The game combines the intense action of a console third-person shooter, with the persistence, scale, and customization of an MMO, while its TV counterpart exudes the scope, story, and drama of a classic sci-fi epic.

Being developed for the PC, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, DEFIANCE unites the MMORPG and Shooter game genres across the most popular platforms.

E3: 'Defiance' TV Show, Online Game Unveiled Next Week (Exclusive) (Hollywood Reporter)

"This is essentially the convergence of the television and gaming industry into one fully-developed cohesive property," said Buttler. "Syfy is creating a television show that takes place in the fictional universe that the game is set in. The game and the show will constantly influence each other from the moment that they simultaneously launch."

E3 2011: Trion Worlds talks Defiance (Massively)

The game is mission- and story-based, and players will automatically receive missions through headsets built into their armor. There's no need to actively form a party, as all players in the vicinity will receive the mission, which they can then cooperate on. Existing alongside the story-driven missions are emergencies and other dynamic events. One example included a large-scale event in which alien terraforming equipment dropped to earth from orbit; it was up to the players in the area to destroy this equipment (for valuable rewards, of course) before it could cause any further damage to the Earth's landscape. This event was said to be akin to a console shooter boss fight, as the terraforming equipment has a variety of "arms" that players must shoot in their weak points while fending off a variety of alien defenders.

Syfy announces star of the Defiance TV series (Massively)

In a press release today, Syfy announced that New Zealander Grant Bowler has agreed to play Defiance's starring role...In Defiance, Bowler will play the role of Jeb Nolan, "the law keeper in a bustling frontier boomtown that is one of the new world's few oases of civility and inclusion." Having lost both his wife and his child in the conflict with the aliens, Nolan became a lone wanderer, which eventually brought him to the town where he works to keep the peace.

Defiance beefs up its TV cast with big-name stars (Massively)

Four new actors have been announced for the show. The first is Julie Benz (Dexter, Angel), who will be playing Mayor Amanda Rosewater, a leader of a small mining town. Stephanie Leonidas (MirrorMask) is Irisa, an alien warrior who's adopted by the lead's character and raised as his bodyguard and daughter. Finally, Tony Curran (Gladiator, Blade II) and Jaime Murray (Warehouse 13, Dexter) are coming on as an alien husband-and-wife team fleeing the destruction of their home world.

Building a sci-fi TV show through an MMO (and vice versa) (Ars Technica)
Syfy and Trion's Defiance tries for real-time "transmedia" integration

Those two very different experiences might sound hard to tie together meaningfully, but there are some ways in which taking part in one side of the "transmedia experience" can help add to the other. The creators gave an example of an in-game quest where players work with non-player characters to rescue a gem from a group of aliens. Those characters end up stealing the gem for themselves and driving off from the game's setting of San Francisco. In the opening scene of the first episode of the show, you see those same two characters driving into the show's setting of St. Louis, stolen gems in tow.

Defiance to launch April 2013, shows off E3 trailer (Massively)

We also learned that both Defiance the TV show and Defiance the MMO will simultaneously launch in April 2013.

Defiance PAX Prime Preview - Long on guns, short on MMO? (Ten Ton Hammer)

For a game that’s been billed from day one as a unique MMO with direct links to the television series, it’s still a bit confusing to try and mentally rectify that with the fact that Defiance is essentially a wholly online breed of the Gears / Halo console shooter variety. If the shooter gameplay proves to be solid enough to engage players, I supposed that won’t necessarily matter in the grand scheme of things. But for now, my main takeaway from PAX is that I’m left wondering whether there are enough PvE hooks remaining behind the wizard’s curtain to help give the game a worthwhile identity beyond a shared setting with the TV series.

[Regolyth]

Interesting concept.

[Morreion]

Trion and Syfy redefine licensing with Defiance (GamesIndustry)

Beliaeff explained how Defiance differs from a standard arrangement between of a game being licensed from a TV show, or vice versa. "We're about to hit our 5 year anniversary of working on this," Beliaeff said. "The real difference is that both sides have been together on the project from day one. You look at the traditional games and Hollywood model, whether it's TV show or movie based on a game or vice-versa, there's generally a licensee and licensor. That creates a master and servant relationship, and whoever the licensee is they generally have to make concessions to license. In general terms, if you're making concessions you're not doing what's optimal for your product and you're compromising the quality of your product."

Final Defiance beta weekend starts March 22 (Massively)

The final beta "will let players explore the Mt. Tam and Madera regions with co-op battles on Angel Island and the Cronkhite Bunker," Trion says. "For Ark Hunters looking to test their might in some competitive multiplayer action, the Freight yard and Observatory will provide opportunities to prove themselves worthy of Von Bach Industries' recruitment."

Defiance show set for a two-hour premiere in April (Massively)

Monday at 9 p.m. EST is considered Syfy's premier primetime placement and that the show will remain in that slot throughout the season.

Hands-on with the pre-launch Defiance demo (Massively)

Where Defiance really begins to break out of the standard MMOFPS box is in its the unique but regular event called an Arkfall. Essentially, an Arkfall occurs when abandoned or wrecked advanced tech alien space junk re-enters the Earth's atmosphere. This will show up as an alert to all players, telling them there will be a sizable quantity of rare loot crashing somewhere in the vicinity. Arkfalls vary in difficulty, mobs encountered, and loot.

Naturally, when an Arkfall alert appears, there will be a frenzied rush of players converging toward the crash-site to grab a share of that loot, and that's where things get interesting. In a PvE environment, we'll see cooperative elements, but I can only imagine that in a PvP scenario, an Arkfall means a fight for looting rights. Right now, small cooperative teams of four are expected for most group PvE questing and exploration, but there's a great deal of focus on ensuring a great single-player experience too. For the large-scale, PvP battles the environment will support up to 128 (64v64) concurrent players in an event called a Shadow War.

Defiance shows off the 99er faction (Massively)

The 99ers, despite their name, do not lure you into their lair with the promise of free popcorn and a markedly robust gluten-free menu; instead, they're crazed former miners who have augmented themselves with extensive cybernetic hardware. And continue mining.

Trion hopes you'll pre-order some Defiance DLC along with your Defiance pre-order (Massively)

A company press release mentions five DLC packs "rolling out after launch" which are now available for pre-purchase in a $39.99 bundle. Trion says that this represents a 20% savings over the suggested retail price of $9.99 per pack, which begs the question of whom exactly suggests the retail prices that generous game companies subsequently discount.

Seeing what it takes to be a Defiance Ark Hunter (Massively)

What does it take to be an Ark Hunter in Trion Worlds' upcoming Defiance? If the following lore video is any indication, you have to be really into puking, eating mutant lizards, and having needles shoved into the back of your neck. But then you get weapons, and these are really big weapons that you can shoot things in the face with.

So it's a trade-off.

Defiance Set Tour & World PvP Hands-On (Ten Ton Hammer)

Missions are repeatable, and players get new missions by interacting with a prismatic cloud (for lack of a better description) near mission objectives. This one had me and my closest 12 demo-mates assaulting a raider farm to shut down their generators and destroy their weapons caches. Little did I know that this was all just a warmup for world PvP, but fortunately I did discover a sticky grenade launcher sitting in a crate at the farm, an elegant weapon that came in very handy later.

[Morreion]

Same Story, Different Screens: A Video Game That’s Also a Series (NYT)

Inan unusual arrangement, neither the show nor the video game is a spinoff of the other. Instead, in a process that took five years and three contracts between Syfy and Trion Worlds, the fictional world of Defiance is a collaboration between the companies. The series and the game were developed simultaneously. Each is designed to be a stand-alone piece of entertainment. Yet they also intersect. Events in the show will influence the game. And events in the game will influence the show.

Defiance launch day roundup and trailer (Massively)

Get the scoop on what awaits you on this terraformed Earth, from villains (like mutants, scrappers, and hell bugs) to weapons to important facts on lore and the planet's new races. We've got a smorgasbord of videos, hands-on experiences, and even a livestream to help you map out your plan of attack before you jump into the fight. After all, the better you know your enemies, the better you can defeat them!

Massively's Defiance launch week diary: Day one

The sci-fi post-apoc premise certainly hits my sweet spot, and I'm intrigued when various menu screens and cutscenes almost inadvertently dole out little nuggets of lore. There was something called the Battle of Defiance, apparently in San Francisco, and it involved the unlikely cooperation of human and alien enemies in direct disregard of orders from their superior officers. It was a watershed moment, but regardless, this is clearly a world on the brink, and to be quite honest with you I bought into it almost immediately.

Massively's Defiance launch week diary: Day two

Aside from arkfalls, you'll engage in standard MMO PvE missions that involve traveling to different locations, activating different terminals, and clearing the area of assorted baddies and bosses. There are also vehicle racing time trials and rampage events that are essentially king-of-the-hill vignettes. All of these reward XP, money, and occasionally items, and the rampage and racing trials feature a leaderboard system so you can see how well you stack up against fellow ark hunters.

Massively's Defiance launch week diary: Day three

Unlocking mod slots works on a timer. My first attempt took 10 minutes of real time, which reminded me of both Star Wars: The Old Republic's and Fallen Earth's crafting-for-people-who-hate-crafting systems, minus the former's companions, of course. Defiance's crafting processes normally cost a handful of arkfall resources (which are obtained via looting and equipment salvaging) and occasionally a bit of scrip.

Massively's Defiance launch week diary: Recap

The good

Rock-solid gunplay and shooting mechanics
Huge weapon selection and interesting customization system
Class-free progression
Addictive goal/pursuit/achievement system
Interesting Shadow War PvP mechanics
Immersive lore
Immersive open-world/instancing blend
Stable, playable launch-week performance in Eastern prime time (PC version)

The bad

Sub-par character animations
Repetitive missions and mission text/voiceovers
Consolized UI
Sub-par chat system
Segregated PC/console playerbases

Trion Worlds promises that it's addressing critical Defiance issues (Massively)

Richardsson promised that the large Trion team is working hard to "update, patch, fix, and improve" Defiance post-launch. The most critical problems that he identifies are connectivity problems, missing pre-order items, the scaling of bosses and arkfalls, and broken chat and VOIP.

[Regolyth]

I think this is really exciting and I want to be a part of it. However, in reading one of those articles, I think the president of SyFy doesn't know what he's talking about (something I could have told you before reading this article).

But Mark Stern, the president for original content at Syfy, expressed less enthusiasm for letting game players determine what happens in the show. “I’m not so sure that gamers want to affect the narrative of a TV series,” he said. “They want to see themselves represented. They want to see the worlds cross over. They want to be given Easter eggs that give them insider information. But I think you’re watching a TV show for a very different reason than you’re playing a video game. It’s a lean-back experience. You want to be told a story. Do you really want to dictate how that story goes? Maybe. But I feel like that’s part of the learning about this whole process.”

What in the world is he talking about? Of course people want their actions in the game to effect what happens in the show! He's a fool for thinking otherwise. I think he just doesn't want to relinquish any control over his show (something I'll not rant about in this particular thread ).I mean, he does bring up other good points. I do think people want to see themselves represented as well, as is well described by the Trion VP below:

And Nick Beliaeff, the senior vice president for development at Trion Worlds, added that there were lots of ways for players to be represented in the show without turning it into what he called “a choose-your-own-adventure story.” Syfy and Trion are discussing, he said, an in-game contest for players after the end of the first season. The winner’s video game character would appear in some fashion on the series during the second season.

That... is cool.

[Oatik]

Oatik should be on TV...no doubt about that.

[Morreion]

Defiance hands out compensation package to players (Massively)

Defiance players are in for a little treat for their patience during a tumultuous opening week. Trion Worlds acknowledged the various issues that the game and its community have gone through, and thus the studio has put together a gift package as a way to thank customers for their patronage.

First major bug-smashing update to be released for Defiance (Massively)

Patch 1.010 is a laundry list of fixes for everything from NPC AI problems to mission text typos to animation flubs to increased rewards, but the most important one is right at the top: "Improved server and client stability."

Syfy touts Defiance premiere numbers (Massively)

Syfy says the premiere was its most-watched scripted show among adults aged 18 to 49 since the 2006 premiere of Eureka. Defiance also drew 2.7 million total viewers, which was good enough for first place over 2009's Warehouse 13.

Defiance producer addresses issues in recent patch (Massively)

...He called on the old adage that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions," explaining that some of the problems in the most recent patch were due to the team wanting to get content out too quickly. "I could have pushed less and said 'no' and had it longer in testing and prepared better," Richardsson explained. He also stated that some of the problems couldn't have been caught with more thorough testing because of the differences between the live and test environments.

Trion responds to Defiance cheating reports (Massively)

Community manager Mathew "Sledgehammer70" Everett says that the firm's "anti-cheat measures are both client-side and server-side" and that Trion is "beefing up on all aspects around this."

Defiance dev blog covers common issues and cheater voyeurism (Massively)

In happier news, the team promises that hackers and cheaters are being taken very, you know, seriously. The blog even admits that some cheaters are allowed to linger in the game for a while so the team can "enjoy" watching the scum.

Defiance contest lets you(r character) be on the show [Updated] (Massively)

The press release says that "the winner will have artists from the Defiance series render their character's likeness into a special place in an upcoming episode," but Trion's PR team has separately confirmed to Massively that it will in fact be you, not your character, whose likeness will be imported into the show.

Defiance passes 1,000,000 registered accounts (Massively)

How about some nifty statistics to commemorate the joyous occasion? Players have collectively killed more than 500,000,000 hellbugs so far. They've driven their ATVs for more than 50,000,000 miles and triggered 1,000,000 Arkfalls.

Defiance renewed for a second season (Massively)

Syfy President of Original Content Mark Stern had these words of encouragement at the news: "Bringing the rich world of Defiance to life has been an incredible team effort. We couldn't ask for better partners than Kevin Murphy, his amazing cast and crew, and Trion Worlds. We can't wait to see where they take us in the second season."

Defiance 'TV tie-in' patch now live (Massively)

I've been waiting a long time to type "transmedia synergy" in a news post again, and that day is finally here!

Defiance is the MMO equivalent of a popcorn movie (Massively)

The first big example of Defiance's core design philosophy comes in the form of your class selection. The game offers four starting classes, all of which fit into common shooter archetypes: There's the Veteran (your basic soldier), the Outlaw (your basic mercenary), the Machinist (your basic engineer) and the Survivalist (your basic recon). Each class has its own specific starting weapon (the Survivalist, for example, begins with a sniper rifle) and outfit, but class selection has no bearing on the weapons you can use in-game and the skills you can acquire as you level.

As you kill monsters and complete missions, you earn EGO Points. Collect enough Ego Points and you'll earn a new perk on the EGO grid, a collection of abilities and enhancements to your existing skillset. My Survivalist character, for instance, has EGO perks that allow her to temporarily cloak herself from view and give her damage bonuses when attacking while crouched or from elevated ground. All character classes have access to all perks and skills on the EGO grid, allowing you to build your character however you see fit.

Defiance gets sick and asks players for a cure [Updated] (Massively)

We're going to give it to you straight: Defiance has a fever, and the only prescription is... um... well, that's actually a good question. Nobody is sure. The entire focus of the new in-game event is trying to figure out how this fever can be treated. Presumably attempts involving bottles of Sprite and bed rest were inconclusive, and now you're going to have to go shoot some things to try to find the cure.