Welcome to the inaugural episode of Defiance Reporter! We hope you’re as excited as we are for the launch of this trans-media experience. In this episode meet the hosts, learn some lore and enjoy the show!

EPISODE 1 – Introducing the new Earth of 2046

Greetings Arkhunters!

Introduce the show/game (things common to both)

Its 2046. It’s a new Earth. We have 7 new alien races, mutated plant and wildlife. New sources of wealth and tech, and a whole new western frontier.

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  “Seven alien races arrive on Earth because their own planet has been destroyed. Those aliens don’t get along, but their peaceful move to Earth turns hostile after a terrorist act. The attack destroys the alien “Ark†ships, which carry “terraforming†technology that is loosed upon the world. The terraforming technology destroys much of the human civilization, and a war ensues. After decades of war, an uneasy peace ensues because two commanders — one human, one alien — defy their orders in order to prevent huge civilian deaths. As the story begins, humans and aliens live side by side in small towns on a terraformed Earth. The citizens seek to find and trade items of value, such as alien artifacts from the mother ship, dubbed the Ark.â€

  
  
  

//Summary quoted from Venturebeat  article dated 05/22/12 (link)

 

DEFIANCE TV SHOW

DEFIANCE MMOFPS

St. Louis (Defiance)

San Francisco (Paradise)

Premieres April 15 on Syfy (showcase)

Launches April 2

Follows Joshua Nolan and Irisa Nyira

Follows you and Cass Ducar

 

Background/History:

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  2000 – Discovery of the approaching Votan Arks by Voyager 1 probe – kept secret by the govt and world leaders create the EMC (earth military coalition) just in case.

  
  
  
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  2007 – Rumor of aliens arise with EMC quickly quelling many of them.

  
  
  
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  2012 rumors of the incoming ships is leaked and the govt is forced to announce it to the world.

  
  
  
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  April 14th 2013 the Votan arrive on Earth. Lead to 6 YEARS of negotiations.

  
  
  

// Votans – a name for the alien collective that comes to Earth from a binary star system they call Votanis.

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  2 years later (2015) we begrudgingly give some land in Brazil to the Votans, but its obviously  not enough room for them all. Tensions mount.

  
  
  
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  2023 – A Votan diplomat is assassinated on live television, sparking the Pale Wars (lasts from 2023 to 2032).

  
  
  
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  January 2030 – arkships were sabotaged and destroyed by an unknown force, creating a new belt of debris around earth called the Ark Belt as well as plummet to Earth in what is known as “THE Arkfall†Alien Terraformers within begin to transform the planet by scorching, tearing, rending, shifting, burying, etc.

  
  
  

//Info from Trick Dempsey – Narrative Designer at E3 2012 (youtube link) and Defiance News, the official Defiance Tumblr (link)

 

A little about the Votans (with pronunciation help)

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  Castithans (CAST-i-thns) “Supermodels of the Votan races†Pale and beautiful. Have a dying aristocracy in place.

  
  
  
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  Irathients (e-rath-I-ents) “feral race, tend to be wild†Orange skinned with the white facial marks. (Is that Alex Baldwin I see??)

  
  
  
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  Indogene (Indi-GENES) “technical geniuses†these are the textured white, tall, and thin aliens with no hair

  
  
  
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  Sensoth (sen-SOTHS) “who look like wookiesâ€

  
  
  
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  Liberata (liber-A-ta) “serving class†Look like alien dwarves

  
  
  

//Info on the above 5 races from Making of Defiance Chapter 4 (youtube link)

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  Gulanee ( ) a race of energy beings

  
  
  

//Info found on a Friday Twitch stream (link)

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  Volge ( ) Race of Automatons. Seen in the trailer

  
  
  

//Info heard during DICE 2013 Keynote Speech (youtube link)

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  There are plenty of mentions of an EIGHT race believed to have perished with the Votanis system. No further details are available and will probably be a tool for further plot development with the show/game.

  
  
  

//Mentioned at the end of the Comic Con 2012 panel (link)

 

Interesting map images found on Facebook photostream showing a torn up west coast line and the storm divide between Cali and Illinois. Also language translation cards and technology of 2046 cards

 

The show – Noteworthy Crew

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  Scott Stewart – Director

  
  
  
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  David Peterson – Language and Culture Creator (worked on Game of Thrones) Created the irathians and castithans language for the show

  
  
  
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  Many of the crew who worked on Battlestar Galactica

  
  
  
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  Mark Stern – President of Syfy (who is very vocal in supporting this show)

  
  
  

 

The Show – Cast

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  Grant Bowler – Joshua Nolan – Showrunner, former lieutenant in the EMC, Member of the Iron Demons and had a role in the battle of Defiance. He “adopted†Irisa and raises her as his own. (Spots on Farscape, Lost, The Cape, Cooter in True Blood)

  
  
  
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  Stephanie Leonidas – Irisa (Irathient) – smart, independent, and feisty. Really good with knives. (Helena in MirrorMask, BBC’s Dracula)

  
  
  
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  Julie Benz – Amanda Rosewater – NEW Mayor of Defiance (Rita in Dexter, The Gifted Man, No Ordinary Family)

  
  
  
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  Mia Kirshner – Kenya – Owns the town bar and brothel called the NeedWant. (24/The Black Dahlia/ The L Word)

  
  
  

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  Tony Curran – Datak Tarr -Castithan – Big boss of Defiance’s Underworld; gambling, weapons smuggling, organized crime. Interesting fact.. Datak was part of the lower caste system on his homeworld and smuggled himself on the Ark (Marcus in Underworld Evolution / Rodney Skinner ie Invisible Man in LXG / Van Gogh in Doctor Who)

  
  
  
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  Jaime Murray – Stahma Tarr – Castithan – Stahma is a woman of her own ambitions, what we don’t know yet. (Lila in Dexter / HG Wells in Warehouse 13 / Gaia in Spartacus :GotA)

  
  
  
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  Graham Greene – Rafe McCawley. Richest and most powerful human in Defiance due to the mining business (Dances with Wolves/Maverick/Die Hard with a Vengeance/Green Mile/Northern Exposure TV series)

  
  
  

i09’s Meredith Woerner has watched the first three episodes. What does she think?

http://io9.com/our-spoiler-free-review-of-syfys-new-western-em-defi-453388225?hootPostID=ef4dd8e9a9c18a8cb221e4a6ff2179a2

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  “Together the two get saddled with the local Lawkeeper job in the town of Defiance. Putting them directly in the line of fire for every weekly drama.â€

  
  
  
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  “On the surface Nolan’s character feels like another mediocre copy of great anti-heroes from out past, but by the third episode the relationship between these two brings out a lot of bigger themes that we’re interested in. How can a human man raise an alien daughter? What mistakes will he make along the way? How will she respond to his failures coupled with her own adolescence?â€

  
  
  
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  “Irisa will win you over from the beginning, Nolan may take some time.â€

  
  
  
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  Hopefully once this series gets rolling it can shake off the ill-fitting metaphors and tired Western gags and focus on original storytelling. (in reference to the brothel owner/prostitute with a heart of gold trope)

  
  
  
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  Seems Meredith is a bit middle of the road with her verdict. She likes the depth of character in the cast, the tightly formed weekly side stories, and the quality of the world building, but then goes on to say its cliché, overly CGI, and a Firefly clone (in not so many words).

  
  
  
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  Meredith as well as commenters like to point out that the lack of CONCRETE is a major oversight and kills emersion.

  
  
  

 

Cast at Comic Con 2012 (Gamespot link)

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  Grant Bowler – “Another thing I’d like to put in about the show.. you know, the kind of synergy that we’ve created  between Trion and Syfy is the elegance of design and I think you start to see that there’s a unity in design, and a unity in the look and the feel of the world between CGI and between the props, the art department, you know.. the art direction, wardrobe, and everything else.†They created new departments thats never existed before between the tv network and the game company JUST to help coordinate everything from the weapons to mythology between the two.

  
  
  

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  Mia Kirshner – “As an actor for me, what I think is really poignant about the show is that the show is about us and where we’re going environmentally, socially, politically and what is happening to us..†Survival and Evolution. Its an overtly human story for a story full of aliens.

  
  
  
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  Nicholas Beliaeff (Trion Senior VP of Development)  - “This is a world of hope. The war is over, the terraforming has stabilized, and now these seven alien races and the humans are working together to rebuild. Its very optimistic.â€

  
  
  
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  Rob Hill (Trion Producer) – “We wanted to create a world that was science fiction yet familiar..â€

  
  
  
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  Surprised to hear that Grant Bowler is more than just a casual gamer.. seems he has a history with EVE at the very least… and if the game suffers from griefing, that he will come into the game and take care of things himself!

  
  
  
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  A LOT of comparisons to Battlestar Galactica and Mark Stern even stated that this was already a bigger project than BG was.

  
  
  

 

The Making of Defiance – Youtube Playlist

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNIBY1ZYyRPBDtx0IJsgv9u_UeP1IZBza

 

Ark Hunter Chronicles

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNIBY1ZYyRPBLTJKf1Vjba9OQcmAKFTII

 

The Game

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• First multi-platform MMO shooter AND a “ground-breaking entertainment experience, interconnecting with a global television program on Syfy.†(link)
  
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  NO SUB REQUIRED

  
  
  
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  Pixel Perfect Third-Person Shooter

  
  
  
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  Epic main missions, numerous side missions, and skill challenges

  
  
  
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  Multiplayer Co-op and competitive maps

  
  
  
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  Dynamic Events (Major and Minor Arkfalls and something called Razor Rain)

  
  
  

 

EGO by Von Bach Industries

EGO – Environmental Guardian Online. Alien tech and AI that is injected into our bloodstream to unlock the potential we already have deep within our DNA. 4 Major EGO Powers are Blur, Cloak, Decoy, and Overcharge. I’ve seen live action promos for the game showing off EGO Powers and even a promotional video from VBI showcasing all the abilities, but nothing yet in the show trailers. http://vonbachindustries.com/en/

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  Blur – enhanced movement speed for a limited duration. It will increase the player’s chance to dodge shots if its a ranged attack. In its highest ranks, Blur can mitigate damage and increase melee damage dealt.

  
  
  
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  Cloak – renders the player invisible. Any attack initiated will disable the effect, from the player or the enemy. In its highest ranks, Cloak triggers accelerated shield regeneration and can boost duration by slowing movement.

  
  
  
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  Decoy – creates a holographic facsimile of the player to confuse the enemy. It will continue to travel in the same direction the player was when initiated. In its highest ranks, EGO provides the option to swap locations with the hologram or destroy it in a damaging explosion.

  
  
  
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  Overcharge – applies a bionetic bonus to ammunition to deliver greater damage. In its highest ranks, Overcharge can activate instant reloading and increase its duration as enemies are eliminated.

  
  
  

Defiance Central has a nifty EGO calculator where you can play with builds or just study what EGOs can benefit you the player (link)

 

A little about the Enemy

Mutants – leftover EMC soldiers, scientists, and Bio-Marines

Hellbugs – a by-product of the terraforming tech

Raiders – interspecies lawless nomadic scavengers

99ers – once human miners, now cyborg due to cybernetic limbs and organ

replacements in pursuit of gulanite (Gulanite is the primary source of power for all

arktech)

Scrappers – hostile scrap metal robots with partial sentience

 

Where to Buy/Game Editions and Preorder Bonuses (link)

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  Standard Edition $59.99 – No Bonuses

  
  
  

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  Digital Deluxe Edition $99.99 – Collector’s Outfit Ark Infiltrator, “Hydra†Rocket Launcher, Rare VBI Sentinel Shield, “+5″ Inventory Space, 30-Day XP Boost, 30-Day Scrip Boost, Unique Vehicle Color, In-game title: Badlands Drifter.

  
  
  

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  Collector’s Edition $99.99 – A Collectors box, limited Edition Hellbug Figurine, VBI Ark Hunter Contract, Defiance Art Book, 2 Defiance Post Cards, Defiance Soundtrack, DEFI stickers, and all digital items from the Digital Deluxe box (the XP and Scrip boosts drop from 30-days to 7-days)

  
  
  

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  Ultimate Edition $149.99 – Everything from the Collectors Edition PLUS a DEFI Messenger Bag, 1200 Bits, In-game title: Pale Wars Ronin, and a 1 year Season pass (access to all season 1 DLC) THIS IS A GAMESTOP EXCLUSIVE

  
  
  

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  Preorder bonuses – Guaranteed BETA invite (only one beta weekend left) Outlander outfit, A RETAILER SPECIFIC WEAPON, 3 day XP boost, In-game title: IRON DEMON, Red Dodge Challenger, and a Lock Box

  
  
  

Retailer

Digital Ed

Physical Ed

Exclusive Pre Order Bonus

Trion Worlds

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JUSTICE (pistol)

Amazon.com

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The Plague Bringer (infector)

Best Buy

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Magforce (BMG) bio-magnetic gun

GameFly

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Legion Weapon (SMG) energy siphon

GameStop

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Sporeshot (infector)

Origin*

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Legion Weapon (SMG) energy siphon

Steam **

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Phoenix (sniper)

Walmart*

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Volter (shotgun) shock dmg

 

*Origin and Walmart are only providing Standard Edition.

** Steam is offering MORE than your standard Pre Order offers. The more people that preorder the game on steam, the more rewards will be given. When you preorder, you get the same preorder bonuses everyone else gets. Reward 1 offers an additional title of “Steam Poweredâ€, +5 inventory slots, and an A-Tex Growler, Reward 2 nets you a free copy of Rift, Storm Legion, and Reward 3 gets you an additional Lock Box, +5 more inventory slots, an extra 7 day XP boost, an RM Nomad M4 before release, and a DISCOUNT off the season pass

 

Last minute announcements

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   Don’t forget to keep an eye out for Arkfall codes! (link)

   
   
   
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   Last Beta Weekend (link) – NDA Lifted

   
   
   

Advance Mission BETA 3 Dates:

PlayStation 3 North America: March 19th 8:00am PDT – March 25th 9:00pm PDT

PlayStation 3 Europe: March 20th 8:00am PDT – March 26th 9:00pm PDT

PC Global: March 22nd 9:00am PDT – March 24th 9:00pm PDT

Xbox 360 Global: March 25th 8:00am PDT – March 26th 9:00pm PDT

“Thanks to a partnership with Dodge, we revealed last week that players pre-ordering Defiance will also get an exclusive in-game red Dodge Challenger at launch, in addition to the previously announced pre-order reward items. The Dodge Challenger is the fastest vehicle in the game and players in the BETA will get to test drive it first by competing in the Dodge time trial challenge located in Madera.â€

 

Defiance Press Event Montage

http://youtu.be/un4HTNMWllg

 

Contact Info

Email: defiance@mmoreporter.com

twitter: twitter.com/defiancepodcast or @defiancepodcast

site: http://mmoreporter.com/category/podcast/defiance-reporter/

Voicemail: 616-666-6778 (and our new widget on the ride hand side of the page)

youtube: youtube.com/user/mmoreporternetwork

 

Ben: twitter.com/nebsinsane

Chris: twitter.com/almazar