Defiance Reporter – MMO Reporter
Defiance Reporter Episode 033 - The Big Push
Defiance is making a big push in marketing with more YouTube videos, cute children’s books, and now the announcement of Defiance the game going Free-to-Play! Also up for discussion is the cast appearance at Chicago’s premiere pop culture expo C2E3 with @HellbugsinLove! Join Michelle and Ben past the break to hear all about it.
Listen now:
DRAMA IN DEFIANCE
Chicago’s Pop Culture Event, C2E2 (Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo 2014)
Hellbugs Firsthand Experience
C2E2 is a new three-day pop culture expo that started in 2010, held at McCormick Place in Chicago. It’s really well-organized, from the same group who runs NYCC. This is a great show for comic fans with an impressive floor space for shopping, a solid Artists’ Alley and a well-organized autograph area for media guests.
Grant, Jaime, Tony and Jesse were there along with Allison, Saul and Eddie from Warehouse 13. The Syfy group had a kind of entire corner of the autograph area blocked off with really long corrals to line up for autographs. All of them arrived late on Friday, so there were only a couple hours for autographs that day. There was definitely a rush when they got there, but toward the end of the day, no one else was really around and sort of hopped from table to table talking to the cast.
The Defiance panel was a raucous affair featuring the two-man comedy show of Grant Bowler and Tony Curran, along with Jesse Rath and Jaime Murray. It was the funniest Defiance panel I’ve ever seen and the cast answered questions about what viewers can expect from season two (hint- it’s going to be a very dark season) and shared anecdotes from set. To recap: the market set is so lifelike Stephanie Leonidas actually tried to shop in it, Grant broke the Dodge Charger on the first day of filming and all the members of the Tarr family actually use lines from the show in general conversation with one another (cue Jesse yelling “You have no respect!â€). And a fun bit of trivia: the fan-favorite “Jackson†scene between Nolan and Irisa almost didn’t make it into the pilot!
- http://youtu.be/1CI_tRaPmB0?t=2m - (just for fun, thanks to DVMPodcastEmpire)
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a75GulVAr_0 - Audio of Julie Benz from Salt Lake City Comic Con. Not much Defiance talk inside, but she does say Amanda is going to be a “total bad ass†and gets “to do a lot of awesome things†“Holy shit, how the fuck did we get her?†-> says “I’m classyâ€
Comic Book Resource’s Spinoff Online segment writeup
- The first season was just “a dress rehearsalâ€. Holy shtako. Some dress rehearsal.
- Michelle: I’m so glad to read that Jaime Murray at times gets lost in the backstory,
because I do, too – there’s so much to remember! - “The humans, the actors, the production crew — they were creating all these aliens, these alien languages, the different sets.†Each of the Votan races has a language, and the actors are required to deliver chunks of dialogue in fictional tongues created by renowned linguist David J. Peterson.
- Michelle: On some level, this set was as much of a melting pot in real life as it is on the show – the actors are interacting with art and makeup that they don’t know much about – maybe this helps create some tension we see on camera, too.
- “Alak, by the way — I think we can spoil — likes a number of humans,†Curran said. “Spoiler!†Rath joked. (We do see Alak enjoying himself at the Need/Want in the promos.)
Defiance’s Enhanced Viewer Experience Promise
http://voiceofe.com/2014/05/enhanced-viewer-experiences-hit-syfy-this-summer.html
- In-Show Avatar
- Remember that contest we had in Defiance Game that the winner would show up in the Defiance show? Â Well we finally get to see the results in the premiere of the show!
- Alethea: a female Irathient and Ark Hunter who seems pretty selfless in the face of adversity (she should be sort of a moral conscience in Defiance)
- The Defiant Few
“Defiance is unveiling a new way for fans to interact with the show online and via social in Season 2. Starting with premiere, every week, viewers will be invited to participate in a parallel storyline where they’ll be encouraged to take on “missions†consisting of web-based casual games and challenges that will propel this storyline and give viewers a chance to win substantial real-world prizes.â€
Jesse Does Defiance
- Inside the Arch – http://youtu.be/pU2HdW7kPHE
- Jesse does a pretty poor Sukar, but it was funny none-the-less.
- Perks of Being Human – http://youtu.be/HQmIW-1aAPs
- Where, oh where, is Julie Benz in these behind-the-scenes clips?
- I am so thrilled they brought in the Farscape episode where Grant was playing an alien! Another Rockne O’Bannon creation.
- Pi̬ce De R̩sistance Рhttp://youtu.be/U9TXB75e4yE (OH I AM SOOO PLAYING THIS ONE!)
- The Defiance Prop Department offically wins. Did this painting remind anyone else of a combo between Datak and Irisa?
- WTH is that alien thing the Irath is lying on?!
Season 2 Promotional Fun!
All My Votans – http://youtu.be/TLBdGB8QUDo
- “While Datak is away, wife Stahma playedâ€
Species of the New Earth – http://youtu.be/-18s4x1Le3Q
- I dont know if its my having grown up with Nat Geo documentaries on PBS or what, but this video is my absolute favorite. ESPECIALLY the parts about Doc Yewll.
Little Indogene Books
http://www.defiance.com/en/series/news/votans-see-their-story-before-defiance
Little Stahma
Little Nolan
Lets Learn About Votans
Honestly, these offer nothing too new in regards to backstory, but they are highly entertaining. I wish they came in Golden Book form – I’d buy one.
Michelle: At some point, I do hope the promotion begins taking itself more seriously. Season Two will be absolutely terrific and dramatic, but right now everything is so tongue-in-cheek that I’m forgetting that at its heart, Defiance has something valuable to say about the world we live in.
NEWS FROM THE BAY AREA
New Crossover Storyline Cradle to Grave
http://community.defiance.com/en/2014/04/29/new-crossover-storyline-coming-cradle-grave/
The first of our new crossover storylines is coming to Defiance and I bet we will hear something about it this week.The world of Defiance is rocked when the hope of Tranquility, the first Earthling-Votan hybrid on record, lies dying in Eren’s emergency facility. As you track down the half-human and half-Irathient crossbreed’s medical history, you’ll quickly discover other forces are working to cover them up for a dark purpose.
It’d seem Amanda had good reason to ask if Irisa was a half-breed Irathient (rest assured, she’s a true blood). The Cradle to Grave storyline will be available free to all players.
Speaking of free..
Defiance goes Free2Play
http://community.defiance.com/en/2014/05/01/defiance-free-to-play-arrives-june-4/
Defiance® for PC is going Free-to-Play June 4, just in time for Season 2 of the show,  with Defiance Free-to-Play for PS3™ targeted for July 15. The F2P conversion will also happen for XBOX 360 players but no date has been announced yet. Trion is working with Microsoft to make it happen, though.
FREE-TO-PLAY PLAYERS will start off with 2 Character Slots, 2 loadouts, a 50 Ark Keycode limit, and 35 inventory slots (all upgradeable through the Defiance store) and will have access to the base game, excluding the DLC, which they will still be able to purchase. This means no locked out regions and access to everything a Defiance player has access to now.
OWNERS (OR PUCHASERS BEFORE JUNE 4TH) will start off with 4 character slots, 5 loadouts, the 75 keycode limit in place now, and 70 inventory slots. Existing characters will retain any extra inventory slots they have. Defiance owners (of digital or retail box copies) will enjoy a 30-Day Paradise Patron Pass and a grant of 1,000 Arkforge per account as well as the additional character slots, loadouts, ark keycode capacity, and inventory slots that all Defiance players who purchase before June 4 will continue to receive. If you happen to find a box after June 4, it will also grant your account those perks.
THE PARADISE PATRON subscription and non-recurring passes will grant a number of benefits:
Boosts to Skill, XP, Scrip, Salvage, and Reputation gain rates that stack with boosts available in the store.
10% store-wide discount on boosts, costumes, lock boxes – all of it!
A daily grab bag of two-hour boosts.
Arkforge from Daily and Weekly Ark Hunter Bonus Lock Boxes. (Console players must link their accounts to receive these benefits and bonuses!)
THINGS WE’VE LEARNED ABOUT THE F2P CONVERSION AND THE JUNE 4TH PATCH during the Q&A Livestream with Trick
http://www.twitch.tv/trionworlds/b/525206466
What does free2play means for defiance players?
Defiance is already a massive co-op shooter.. bringing more people in is always a benefit
the world feels more alive, enemies go to a higher level, there are better drops, its a great thing to have a large population of people in there.
Those who have stuck with the game will be “lavishing nice things upon you†like the 30 day patron pass, the 1k arkforge, for those of you who picked up all the DLCs, you are going to find that all of your daily and weekly rewards are going to have a little bit more inside of them. Details on that later.
Patron Pass
Bonus arkforge for patron pass holders.
Boosts 20% to XP, Scrip, Reputation, Skills, Salvage, and a 10% to Score
Note that the Loot tier is now gone and in its stead we get Salvage and Score.
Also worth noting is that instead of the standard bonuses to Self, Group, and Clan, there is now a SECOND bonus to self and the patron bonus
Loadout Quickswapping!
Now you can customize your loadouts and swap to them mid fight by using a radial menu.
This is not quite on the fly as it still take 3 to 4 seconds to actually load the set you chose, but its a big step up for gameplay.
Coming in with the June 4th patch.
New outfit Biohazard Battler with the Biohazart Trooper Helmet available from the Biohazard Lockboxes in the Defiance Store.
I have loved the idea of themed lockboxes for weapons with a chance to get an outfit piece, but 400 bits (or the equivalent of $5 USD) is just not economical enough for me.
HOLY COW YOU CAN UNEQUIP STUFF! I know its a seemingly small update but if you’ve ever tried to consolidate and pare down your inventory to get salvage or scrip, then you know that equipped weapons don’t show up in those menus to prevent you from accidentally selling or destroying your current weapon. An important feature, yes, but now when thats your intent.
One of the new features was to introduce a new salvage matrix ability which allows you to bump weapon rarity. Arkforge cost will scale with your rarity destination and you will only be able to update one level at a time.. Doesn’t seem the actual amount has been determined yet.
Arkforge drops a little more frequently from world events. Scores above 35k will see Arkforge drop, however if you go into arkfall interiors (arkbreaks) you will find that you will get Arkforge in the place of Keycodes
Cost of the patron pass per month is still being determined but Trion is leaning towards 800 bits (or $10 USD) a month. 30-day, 90-day and 180-day durations of the pass will be available with discounts the bigger you go.. There will also be a 15-day option likely at 400 bits (or $5 USD).
Overflow items now in the claims page will have a countdown timer for a week (or 7 days) before the items are automatically salvaged. The countdown will include days, hours, and minutes so you know exactly when it will occur and take action before that time. Countdown won’t start until the first time you log in after the june 4th patch. This only applies to items that normally go into your inventory and not your purchases or rewards.
Increasing keycode limits from 75 can be purchased in increments of 25, up to 125 keycodes max
When is the map getting expanded and where? During season 2, relatively soon. “We’re still holding that under our hatâ€
Good news! Trion is moving away from DLC content. The move to F2P will include the free crossover content. We may at some point in the future create a larger content package, but it will be more like the way Rift handles new content, i.e. individually sold features. If there’s new content in the game you should have access to it.
Inventory slots. Vets of the game have their 75 base to start and anything purchased stays with them after.. There is no taking inventory away. New f2p players will have the 35 slots to start with and can purchase space up to 300 slots max. For those vets OVER that number, they will be grandfathered in.
New open world events are coming with the new land expansion.
Incursions 2.0 where the enemies actually take over an area is actually in the works.
Interviews with Trick Dempsey around the web
Alistdaily – ‘Defiance’ Goes Free by Steve Peterson http://www.alistdaily.com/news/defiance-goes-free
[a]list daily: Game balance is always an issue in F2P games… have you had enough time to work out the design issues?
Trick Dempsey: We’ve known this transition was coming for a long time, and we’ve been changing the game drastically to address these issues prior to launch. Defiance was never a subscription game, so many of the issues endemic to free to play transitions were simply not an issue for us. Instead, we faced issue with gameplay balance and feelings of significant progress throughout the experience of the game. We’ve been tackling these issues for a year now, and it’s ready to make a good first impression on a much wider audience.Trick Dempsey: We’ve got an incredible season planned with crossovers that will reward people who visit our world through both the show and the game. We’ll be airing time-limited codes on every episode of the show which will provide game players with special bonuses as well as other events which will tie the show and game together.
IGN – DEFIANCE GAME GOING FREE-TO-PLAY THIS SUMMER by Mitch Dyer http://m.ign.com/articles/2014/05/01/defiance-game-going-free-to-play-this-summer
Trion didn’t seem keen on Xbox One or PS4 releases of Defiance when asked. “Our primary goal is to have the largest install base possible,” Dempsey explained. Presently, the audience isn’t quite there on PS4 or Xbox One.
Gamefront http://www.gamefront.com/defiance-lead-designer-on-free-to-play-more-people-is-more-fun/
Dempsey emphasized that Trion will continue to support for Defiance for quite a while, regardless of what happens with the SyFy tie-in show — even if it were hypothetically canceled. When presented that scenario, Dempsey said that while he didn’t expect the show to be canceled to happen, if it did, the game would go on. “We’re definitely keeping the game going. Last year, I believe it was the second or third episode aired, and SyFy lined up the second season,†he said. “My expectation is, especially since the quality of the show is intensely good, that it will continue for quite some time. However, even if it were to cease, the game stands on its own two legs, and we have content plans going out an embarrassingly long duration of time with new features, land expansions, enemies, all that kind of stuff.â€
“We have followed the same theory that we did for Rift, which is no tricks, no traps; you can play it from level zero to level whatever the heck our max is going to be, and we’re not going get in your way,” Dempsey said. “If you want to play for a year without ever paying us a dime, that’s fine. Thank you for playing in our playground. We enjoy it. We’re glad you’re around.”
Defiance Community Raising Funds for Doctors without Borders
http://community.defiance.com/en/2014/05/02/special-loot-raises-funds-for-doctors-without-borders/
This month (5/1 – 5/31), when you buy the new Defiance Lab Coat, we’ll donate all proceeds ($8) to Doctors Without Borders.
 Lab Coat is 640bits (or $8 USD), the Head Mirror is silly and 400bits ($5 USD), and the entire outfit is, if you can do the math, 1040bits (or $13 USD).
The lab coat is available now at the in-game store, and a fancy new head mirror is also available to accompany. If you’d like to make a direct donation to Doctors Without Borders, just visit http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/
LAST MINUTE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Season 1 of Defiance is no longer available on Syfy Now, but do not fear! Thanks to an extensive content deal with NBCUniversal, subscriber’s to Amazon Prime can now watch the first season of Defiance exclusively through Prime Instant Video.
And those of you who want to complete the rewatch experience, you can play all of the Season 1 Crossover events IN THE GAME. Meet Nolan and Irisa before they leave for the New Frontier, then follow (and take part in) their adventures as you watch and play Defiance Season 1 side-by-side. Its the perfect time for new players to experience Syfy’s transmedia adventure as it was intended, so download the free trial today!
Join our PC clan IGNI FERROQUE! <defiancereporter.guildlaunch.com> No registration required, just look for one of these officers in-game, Corso Vanlocke, Jack Thundersteele, or Almazar to get an invite!
CONTACT US!
Email: defiance@mmoreporter.com
Website: defiancereporter.com
Voicemail: 616-666-6778 (and our new widget on the ride hand side of the page)
Facebook: facebook.com/defiancereporter
Youtube: youtube.com/user/mmoreporternetwork
Twitter: twitter.com/defiancepodcast or @defiancepodcast
Michelle: twitter.com/womenofdefiance
Jules: twitter.com/hellbugsinlove
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