New Class comes to Neverwinter!

I've had an off and on relationship with Neverwinter lately, but the new expansion released this week, Shadowmantle, has dragged me back in with an introduction of a class I've longed for, the Hunter Ranger.

The class plays like a dream, awesome ranged power will the ability to hop backwards to put more space between yourself and the enemy, this actually plays better than my favourite class in Lotro, the Hunter!

I've not played through any of the new content yet, but for the release of this class alone (and Free to Play!) I hail Perfect World for a job well done. If you haven't tried it yet, give Neverwinter a go. It's a blast!.

http://nw.perfectworld.com/

New Ebook for Gary McMahon (and our first Prize Draw Giveaway!)

On 10th December, the mighty Gary McMahon's latest work, 'Where you live' will be unleashed on the world in ebook format via Crystal Lake Publishing.

"Horror is everywhere… It’s waiting behind a closed door, sitting in an ordinary chair, or following you on a country walk. Perhaps it’s washed up on a tranquil beach, hanging at a local skate park, recorded on an MP3 player hard drive, or even embedded somewhere deep within the design of something as simple and innocuous as a supermarket barcode. Horror is everywhere, in the shadows and in the light. It takes on every shape, comes in every conceivable size. But most of all it’s right where you live."

Crystal Lake have offered us an ebook copy so this is our first giveaway! Just leave a comment under this post by Saturday 14th December, for a chance to win a copy!

If you can't wait til then, or prefer something solid to read, by all means grab a copy from Amazon, which is already available in paperback!


LINKS:

Crystal Lake Publishing

Gary McMahon

Special Offers from Shadow Publishing

SPECIAL OFFER - THREE TITLES - SIGNED EDITIONS.

For a limited period only. Order the following three titles using PayPal at the website and get the three books (worth £31) for £20, including postage:
'The Whispering Horror' by Eddy C. Bertin (very limited stock with bookplates issued at the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton, signed by Eddy, cover artist Harry Morris and editor Dave Sutton);
'The Lurkers in the Abyss and Other Tales of Terror', signed by author David A. Riley; 'Worse Things Than Spiders and Other Stories', signed bookplate by Samantha Lee.

Also available for UK customers by personal cheque - email David Sutton for details.


PRE-ORDER 'TALES OF THE GROTESQUE' 25% DISCOUNT. This rare collections of tales by L. A. Lewis will be publishing in paperback for the first time early in 2014. I am offering copies on pre-order at 25% discount, plus postage, ordered from the website via PayPal.

Also available for UK customers by personal cheque - email David Sutton for details.


Visit the Website for further details

Victorian Christmas Chills for 99p!

Paul Finch has announced that the e-version of his Christmas horror novella, Sparrowhawk, which was shortlisted for the BFS award in 2012, is only 99p on Amazon for the duration of this week, 18-23rd November, 2013.

To grab it, click HERE.

Guess what I'm patching?

Well, as if I didn't have enough games on my plate, listening to the Contains Moderate Peril podcast, I was inspired to dive back into this excellent game. Be nice to play something modern to get away from the fantasy of Neverwinter and LOTRO and sure it will take me ages to understand the thing again.

Danish/Scottish Horror from Beewolf Press

Copenhagen-based Beewolf Press are set to publish 'I Have Not Answered' by Adam Grydehoj, for release March 2014.

"This debut novel brings a Scandanavian chill to the literature of Scotland. Stark, lyrical prose roots this supernatural thriller in a keen sense of place. As a meditations on love, loss, and the masks we wear to hide our true selves slowly transforms into a horror story of the soul, 'I Have Not Answered' demonstrates how silence and disquiet can be evoked in words. "

http://www.beewolfpress.com

To min max or not to min max....

Today I got into a heated debate with my guild leader in Neverwinter. Now this guild has always been described as casual, which fits my play style, however today the leader was suggesting he would be basing recruitment on people's stats, suggesting that if they didn't know how to build a character 'correctly' he had no wish to 'carry' them.

This stuck in my craw no end. I have never been a fan of min maxing. I have no interest in researching a cookie cutter build, especially to satisfy another player who does not contribute to my game playing budget. For me it removes all individuality and if The game designers wanted me to play the game like that, they'd just set my stats and skills as most solo games of ten years ago used to.

I also made the point that not everyone is in a game to play its hardest content and what he was doing was essentially discrimination. he didn't like my opinion at all.

Sadly if this is the way the guild will go, I'll be forced to look for another home. If all you recruit are hardcore gamers, then that's the kind of people you'll socialise with in game and I have no interest in that at all.

What are your thoughts on min/maxing? Leave a comment below.

SPECTRAL PRESS ANNOUNCE THE CHRISTMAS GHOST STORIES OF LAWRENCE GORDON CLARK

Those fine chaps at Spectral Press have announced something very special for this December.

Between 1971 and 1978, during the Christmas holiday period, the BBC broadcast a series of dramas under the umbrella title of A Ghost Story for Christmas, most based on stories by M. R. James and all directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark. This December, Spectral Press will be publishing its first hybrid/non-fiction book, The Christmas Ghost Stories of Lawrence Gordon Clark, in celebration of those classic short films. It will be edited and introduced by Tony Earnshaw, author of the highly regarded Beating the Devil – The Making of Night of the Demon; feature a Foreword by none other than Mark Gatiss (The League of Gentlemen, Sherlock, First Men in the Moon, the forthcoming The Tractate Middoth); plus all the M. R. James tales from which the dramas were adapted, each prefaced by a new introduction by Clark himself. Additionally, there will also be a reprint of an unfilmed “Count Magnus” script by Basil Copper, as well as other material including unpublished behind-the-scenes photographs.

CONTENTS:
Foreword by MARK GATISS
Introduction by TONY EARNSHAW
Seven short stories by M. R. JAMES: The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral, The Treasure of Abbot Thomas, A Warning to the Curious, The Ash Tree, Lost Hearts, Casting the Runes, Count Magnus
Exclusive new introductions to each story by LAWRENCE GORDON CLARK
Count Magnus teleplay by BASIL COPPER
Lost Hearts short stage play by LAWRENCE GORDON CLARK
Filmography, awards, bibliography ?? of LAWRENCE GORDON CLARK by TONY EARNSHAW
Q&A with LAWRENCE GORDON CLARK by TONY EARNSHAW

It will be available in three editions: LIMITED SIGNED SLIPCASED HARDBACK (£75 – 50 only), LIMITED UNSIGNED HARDBACK (£35 – 100 only) and UNLIMITED PAPERBACK (£20). Postage will be extra. Only the highest production values will go into the making of this book— there will be NO eBook of this as we think that only physical books will work best for the nature of the material.

This will be a definitive volume - the last word on Lawrence Gordon Clark’s career in ground-breaking supernatural television.

PUBLICATION DATE: December 2013.

PRIVATE CUSTOMERS: Expressions of interest to spectralpress@gmail.com – (don’t forget to tell us which edition you would like).

REVIEWERS: please register your interest in reviewing a copy of this book by also sending an email to spectralpress@gmail.com.

SHOPS/DISTRIBUTORS: wholesale will be 25% discount – send requests/orders to spectralpress@gmail.com.
Available from the publishers: Spectral Press, 5 Serjeants Green, Neath Hill, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK14 6HA, United Kingdom.
Web: http://spectralpress.wordpress.com
Email: spectralpress@gmail.com 

New releases from Matt Drabble

Matt Drabble, British Horror author recently released two new novels, a new anthology 'After Darkness Falls' and a horror/thriller/slasher/murder mystery called 'Abra-Cadaver'

Both are available to grab for free from Amazon over the next few days, the 'After Darkness Falls' from the 5th to the 7th of November and 'Abra-Cadaver' from the 8th to the 10th of November.

Matt would also like to announce that he has signed with Taylor Books in San Francisco to publish an upcoming supernatural thriller called 'The Montague Portrait'

For more information, Matt's site is www.mattdrabble.com

Winners of the British Fantasy Awards 2013

So what better way to kick off than to announce the winners of the British Fantasy Awards 2013, as announced on Sunday, 3 November 2013, at the awards banquet at the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton:

Best Fantasy Novel (the Robert Holdstock Award): Some Kind of Fairy Tale, Graham Joyce (Gollancz)

Best Horror Novel (the August Derleth Award): Last Days, Adam Nevill (Macmillan)

Best Novella: The Nine Deaths of Dr Valentine, John Llewellyn Probert (Spectral Press)

Best Short Story: Shark! Shark!, Ray Cluley (Black Static #29) (TTA Press)

Best Collection: Remember Why You Fear Me, Robert Shearman (ChiZine Publications)

Best Anthology: Magic: an Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane, Jonathan Oliver (ed.) (Solaris)

Best Small Press (the PS Publishing Independent Press Award): ChiZine Publications (Brett Alexander Savory and Sandra Kasturi)

Best Non-Fiction: Pornokitsch, Anne C. Perry and Jared Shurin (eds)

Best Magazine/Periodical: Interzone, Andy Cox (ed.) (TTA Press)

Best Artist: Sean Phillips

Best Comic/Graphic Novel: Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image Comics)

Best Screenplay: The Cabin in the Woods, Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard

Best Newcomer (the Sydney J. Bounds Award): Helen Marshall, for Hair Side, Flesh Side (ChiZine Publications)

Special Award (the Karl Edward Wagner Award): Iain Banks / Iain M. Banks

Welcome to Knifesedge Indie Horror Blog

Welcome!

As I seem to get so much news from the Indie Horror community I thought it was time to share some of it, to introduce people to some outstanding books that they might be missing.

This is not a review site, there are plenty of those. The reviews I edit will continue to appear on http://www.britishfantasysociety.co.uk/ but this is purely my own venture to do something different, focussing just on news from the Indie Horror market, mostly in the UK.

So, if you're a fan, then please add the blog to your feed. If you're an author or publisher, feel free to send any and all information about your current and forthcoming horror releases to bfsreviews@gmail.com. This does NOT replace the BFS news service so to be featured on that site, please continue to send your news to news@britishfantasysociety.org 

Neverwinter - Masquerade of Liars Event

Neverwinter have released a very interesting event for the Halloween season. Running from 10th October to 4th November it consists mostly of collecting tokens to convert to cosmetic gear with a Skeleton Warrior companion up for grabs for the most dedicated of grinders.

What impressed me most about the event though, is the makeover they've given to the main city hub.

Introducing Pinestro of Landroval

Recently I read on Lotroplayers that there will be a Hobbit Warden 21 spear salute in honour of Pineleaf, a veteran player on several Lotro servers, including my own, Windfola.

Pineleaf, if you're not aware, has written a number of excellent skirmish guides for CSTM which you should definately check out. As part of the start of this years Fellowship Walk, a charity event on the roleplay server, Landroval, there will be a gathering of hobbit wardens to line up and salute in her honour.

So I rolled another toon...

Pinestro of Landroval, a distant cousin of Jestro, has taken up spear and shield and become a warden to join the festivities! My original intention was to get to minimum level required to get through the intro but it's been so long since I played in the Shire, I got hooked in. I decided I would take my time, do all the quests and deeds in the zone before moving on, I even had my eye on the Undying title, a deed for surviving to level 20 without dying.

 I went AFK at level 16 in Bindpole Wood and you can guess the rest.

Not put off though, I intend to continue levelling him. It's refreshing to be on an RP server and as much as I love my kinnies on Windfola, it's nice to be able to play from scratch without the backup a ton of crafting alts affords.

Ode to Skyrim

Oh Skyrim, how I love thee, and how you frustrate the hell out of me.

I have now been playing Skyrim on the PS3 for over a year. Access to the PS is limited compared to PC games, so it's slow going, but sometimes I get so frustrated with a quest, I don't touch it for months at a time, despite it being an amazingly beautiful game.

To me, Skyrim is an MMO without having to deal with other players. Questing, crafting, levelling all standard fayre for an MMO player but allowing you to not only go at your own pace but not being forced to group to complete content. On the downside, get stuck and you're on your own (unless you can be bothered to confer with the million and one walkthroughs online)

My character, a kind of warrior mage (gotta love those self heals in the middle of a combat) has just hit 25 and I finally got through the maddening part of the main storyline quests, to find the Elder Scroll. I am so satisfied now I've completed that quest, I am keen to throw myself back into the game as much as I can. 

LOTRO - Running content with the Kin

Over the last few weeks we have, as a kinship (Defenders of the Right, that is) set aside Friday evenings/nights as 85 group night. We rarely get more than three show up, which is fine but now we are getting more to 85 the interest in increasing.

Tonight I was reminded of why I love the group aspect of Lotro which I have missed for so long. We started as three hunters (Jestro, Canas and Swiftflight) which was awesome in itself, failing Ford of Bruinen then triumphantly burning through Danneglor. Then we were joined by our resident minstrel, Celestirrh so I hopped to my (albeit rusty) Tank, Saxlang.

As there is no 4 man content we ran a six man skirmish, Thievery and mischief, and managed to clear everything only to fail at the final boss's ( three of them)

Despite our failure, we had done incredibly well, and bonded further as a unit (Swift is a new 85 so this was her first adventure with us) and it makes me look forward to more fun runs hopefully with a few more kinnies along for the ride!

Inifinite Crisis Beta is a blast (and now I can talk about it!)

The NDA has now been lifted so I can now reveal that I've been a part of the Beta testing for Turbine's new MOBA, Infinite Crisis.

Set in the DC Multiverse, it takes characters from every corner of DC and pits them together in teams to PVP it out. 

Now I'm not a huge fan of MOBA's having played DOTA 2 and still am not sure I understand this one but the IP is enough to keep me interested, even though every battle I join I feel like the weakest link.

My clear favourite champion, just based on looks as I still haven't a clue how to play him well, is Gaslight Batman.

Founder Packs have just gone on sale the Basic Pack ($19.99) also gives you three Champions (Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern), a buddy key for a friend, and $10 worth of Crisis Coins (the in-game currency).

The Standard Pack ($49.99) gives you all of that, plus three more Champions (The Flash, Gaslight Batman, Poison Ivy), a second buddy key for a friend, an exclusive costume for Gaslight Batman, and $35 worth of Crisis Coins.

The Elite Pack ($99.99) gives you all of the above, plus guaranteed early access to the next map (Gotham Divided), four buddy keys for friends (enough to form a full team of five), an additional six Champions (Gaslight Catwoman, Gaslight Joker, Cyborg, Nightmare Batman, Shazam, Zatanna), an exclusive costume for Batman, and $80 worth of Crisis Coins.

For more info: http://www.infinitecrisis.com/en/news/announcing-founders-pack

Steam Sales!

As the Summer hits, along with it comes the annual Steam Sales, which I've decided is the bane of most MMO's as it drags regular MMO gamers away to play single player games offered at massive discounts. I have been victim of this and three games in particular have dragged my attention from LOTRO and RIFT. If you are in either of these games and are missing my presence, blame Steam (and feel free to send me a PM)

Civilization V

I've always been a fan of Civ but have not tried this latest incarnation. I do love strategy games but can't play them over and over so it's a nice title to dip into. The graphics are naturally better than ever and with a ton of options to play with, including multiplayer that I've not yet delved into.

My first run through has been as the might Montezuma. So far I'm 27 hours in and have wiped out 4 other civilizations so far with more to go!

Borderlands 2

An odd choice for me, as I'm not a huge fan of shooters, but this was recommended by so many friends, I just had to try it. Plus it was dirt cheap! An amusing game that blends Mad Max and Fallout 3 for an exciting edge-of-your-seat game. Three hours in and I've taken down the first boss. Not scratched the surface yet and there's a multiplayer option to boot!

XCom - Enemy Unknown

Seeing this one reduced from £30 to £7 was a no-brainer. I was a huge fan of the original series, giving me the right blend of strategy and killing aliens (a favourite pass-time of mine) I suspect it's fairly big and I'm barely two hours in.

LOTRO 4th level 85 character

Today I finally hit 85 on Storri, my Dwarf Champion, making my 4th capped character in LOTRO.

Now begins the grind of getting him geared up and maybe even start running some group content.

Next to level to cap will be my Burglar, Jonhah, but I might delve a little into my lowest non-bank toon, Brandenhelm the LoreMaster. It's a class that still fails to grab my attention though a kinnie offering to level with me might be the incentive I need.

A Casual Stroll to Rift

After playing Rift for a couple of weeks, I really started getting into it. I found the Warrior class much more fun than the ranged pet class I'd tried previously and I reached the giddy heights of level 12 on Storri.

 I'd learnt the basics and the more I understood, the better I liked the game. Then I realised my friends from Casual Stroll to Mordor, Merric and Goldenstar, had also got the Rift bug and not only were playing but had started a CSTM guild on the Faeblight server. I'm sure many fans of the their podcast followed them as they have now stopped podcasting and I wanted to do the same, so searched for the Faeblight server, but couldn't find it.

It was then it dawned on me. I was logged into the EU servers, Faeblight is a US server, so I saved my settings and low and behold, I found it. Logging in, I was surprised to see my original character, Jestro! I must have been on the US server back when I tried it before, so I jumped in, made contact with the Guild and joined up. The hunter class wasn't for me though, so I rolled another Storri, exactly the same build (though different cosmetically) and started levelling again from the beginning.

The quests were a lot smoother second time round and as I knew what I was aiming for and where I was going, made for a better experience. The community in the Guild is great so I decided to leave old Storri behind and stick with the new improved Mark II. He's up to level 11 already and I feel not only have I found a fun new game, but some great people to play with.

To Rift or Not to Rift...

Over the last couple of weeks there has been lots of chatter in the Twitterverse about the launch of Rift as a Free To Play MMO. I did play a little when Trion first offered a trial version but my initial reaction was "Meh" however I realise I didn't give it enough of a chance and the game has always been raved about by some of my favourite commentators so when a F2P option came along I thought I'd give it a go.

So, I downloaded it (or at least part of it - the game has a beautiful option of playing as it downloads) and jumped in to roll a new character, Storri the Dwarf Warrior Guardian on the Zavier shard (server)

Storri The Warrior Guardian (Rift)

The game uses a "soul" system to define its classes which I'm still not sure I've got my head round, but I fully intend to spend at least a couple of hours a week levelling him up and seeing how the game pans out.

New (re)discoveries

So I've been a veteran of Lord of the Rings Online for a few years. It was my first proper MMO (I played the Realm, a precursor to MMO's before the term was coined) and of course, like any first love, it's the one I always fall back on. However, with the recent shift of games going Free To Play, I've taken the opportunity to dip into a number of others. Star Trek Online, Secret World, Star Wars the Old Replublic, Rift and even WoW (which stayed on my hard drive for all of 20 minutes!)

So I decided to start a blog to record what I've been trying out and what I think about those games. This is that blog...