Only on Offworld: Write a legend for EA's card-game RTS BattleForge

Zenanon

#1 – 4:18 PM February 25, 2009

I played BattleForge in beta a while ago. It was fun, but I didn't really see the need for cards. I mean, usually when you think of something dealing with cards it's got a random element to it, this is more like just selecting a roster. I was expecting MtG, I got Warcraft III.

Anonymous Anonymous

#2 – 5:01 PM February 25, 2009

"Knowing how the Beast is made teaches us how to destroy it." -Commander Weaver 201st

Renwaldonews

#3 – 5:47 PM February 25, 2009

Like a creature out of a child's storybook, the gargantuan monster towered above Axeheart. Its claws were dripping with the blood of his companions, and once more the Mutating Frenzy brought its claws so high it seemed like it would cut the sky, and struck in a strike which left no memory of its passing, but for welts in the earth so gargantuan that the lowest points were shrouded in darkness. Axeheart, however, skillfully dodged the blows, and leaped onto the Mutating Frenzy's arm. The monster shook his arm wildly, vaporizing trees and shattering rock, yet Axeheart held fast. He shut his eyes and climbed, handhold to handhold, to the base of the monster's neck. Pulling from his belt his dagger Demonsbane, Axeheart delivered a blow to the monster which would have shamed a Tremor. The monster quivered, dying, stiffened, and fell to earth. Axeheart dismounted, and set upon his next foe.

Renwaldonews

#4 – 5:48 PM February 25, 2009

Alright, now that that's out of the way, is that all that we needed to do, or did you need more?

13tales

#5 – 6:11 PM February 25, 2009

What IS it with cards? I thought the main attraction was you could charge money for 'em...

Mind you - in Japanese arcades at the moment, they have these insane tactical RTS games in which you actually control the game using the cards. By which I mean - the machines have two screens, both of which seem to show different parts of the action. You play the game by deploying your cards face down on the lower screen, and physically moving them to manuver your troops and stuff. Oh, and it's online. My jaw basically hit the floor - I mean, I know about Eye of Judgment, but this really was the next level of mindblowing. I very rarely feel completely out of my depth when it comes to games, but that was how I felt while watching these guys place.

13tales

#6 – 6:12 PM February 25, 2009

Curses. The last word in that comment should be "play" not place :P

InfiniteAmmo

#7 – 8:36 PM February 25, 2009

Mutating Frenzy:

They...change. I made them that way. I made them to change, to adapt.

I made them to protect people! I never made them with the intent to harm! But something went wrong. My command of Lifesculpting slipped.

Yes, they change. But throughout all of their incarnations, two things always remain the same: their insane lust for blood, and their tireless love of death.

I should have never created them. They are my biggest failure...and they may yet kill us all.

-from Chief Lifesculptor Aren Nidwray's journal

murkatos

#8 – 9:03 PM February 25, 2009

"When facing a Frenzy, there are two options - take its head before it starts singing, or pray it takes yours."
-Heath Rexen, Demon Hunter for the Crimson Cabal


Emrika dimly recalled Roland explaining that not all of the participants would be powerful enough to survive the Rite of Calling. She had laughed, certain she would not be among that sorry group.

As the monstrosity which had been Roland began to mewl and gesticulate, the Incantrix's laughter echoed hollowly in the back of her head. Emrika became transfixed by the violet hellflame dancing along her possessed mentor's new form, which kept time with the infernal canto issuing from its undulating gullet.

Searing agony flowered from a bud of ecstasy as the Demon peeled Emrika's torso like the rind of an orange. The Frenzy only stopped singing when its teeth came to rest in her pulsing heart.

XanderBennett

#9 – 10:59 PM February 25, 2009

It wanted to kill, but even more than that, it wanted to die.

That terrible, twisted thing... how to describe it? It was an abomination, an unholy union of man and demon, flesh and claw, writhing muscle and snapping bone. Whipped into a blind rage by the awful fact of its own existence, it sought to violently inflict its pain on others. Snarling, it smashed through the ranks of my men in a whirling frenzy, turning strong soldiers to red mist.

This tortured thing... it wanted to die. I hefted my spear, and with the holy strength that was gifted to me, I obliged it.

- From the private Lorebook of Arkmenon, Justiciar 2nd Class

docboffin

#10 – 3:13 AM February 26, 2009

Combat Cards is a similar virtual/real trading card game that has existed in Second Life since 2006 and was released in real life last month. More details here: http://combatcards.co.uk/

bdjsb7

#11 – 7:04 AM February 26, 2009

The thing, while not a man, pretended itself one. Eyes, maw, and nose in their appropriate place. Limbs- four and all. Skin the color of infection writhed in a wholly unnatural way.

Its arm lunged toward my companion. Pulsing flesh split, and odd talons sprouted from the wound. These cut and killed with ease. My avenging blow struck true, but the satisfying sunder of flesh and bone was absent. Instead; the jarring recoil of an anvil strike. Its flesh had, in part, formed a hardened mail. Spines sharp as blades sprung forth, glistening in moonlight.

As any sane man would, I ran.

Huron Janus, "Accounts from the Front"

Chiro

#12 – 10:36 AM February 26, 2009

It had a terrible, insatiable hunger... one that could only be satisfied by gorging itself on the flesh of the fallen.
Any man would not suffice; the beasts pallet longed for the taste of a fierce warrior. It wanted to bury it's fangs deep into the scarred, battle-worn tissue of those who had obliterated so many before him.
Longing for the taste of victory, the demon will stop at nothing to satisfy his cravings, marching blindly into battle...

"Incompetence in the field of battle just angers the beast. If you value your life, failure is not an option."-Unknown

VoxExMachina

#13 – 1:00 PM February 26, 2009

Whoa. Is it just me, or did the prose just get a lot more purple around here?

That being said, good luck everyone!

Devilstower

#14 – 8:25 AM February 27, 2009

I wrote a whole book for one of the Magic the Gathering cards, and I can safely say that my payout wasn't much better than this contest. It is kind of cool to see someone playing the game now and notice that some of the cards have characters or creatures that I invented (it would be cooler if I made money from them).

Good luck, folks!

krazedkris

#15 – 8:43 AM February 27, 2009

Racked with pain, the creatures of the glen watched in horror as their bodies reacted and mutated under the gentle moonlight. Their brains, detached from control, spun elaborate webs of blame and conspiracy upon anyone who dared enter their general vicinity.

"They only had one wish," the torn and burnt diary read, "to die and to inflict as much pain and damage possible on anyone or anything within reach."

robotrevolution

#16 – 9:19 AM February 27, 2009

All we could see was a jester's smile, but this was no comedy. This was pure evil, bent on malice and possessed of terror. The twisted countenance grinned at us madly, as though daring us to continue our study of the beast's horrific nature. Tearing my gaze from the monster's deformed face, I had only moments to see the demon's flesh twist, curl, and harden to spikes, before we made our escape. Whether the monster felt any of what was happening to it, I could not say. Its maniacal laughter followed us as we ran, and though we survived the encounter, I found my sense of humor to be subdued for some time after.

-- Garras Norman, "Travels Through Other Lands"

pilcrow

#17 – 9:53 AM February 27, 2009

"We rejoiced when the demons began to fight each other
each carved a wound in the body of his brother
but from the pain they drew strength
and then came at our flank
Sending us running for cover."

From "The Song of Happy Mutants"

LadyLuck1337

#18 – 11:51 AM February 27, 2009

I do not sleep for I am that from which nightmares are made. I have taken your children as my own and changed them into foul beasts from beyond the darkness. If you stab me, that only makes me stronger for my blood will change you. My fluids will infect you. You will become me. I desire the downfall of all species. When I wipe my gnashing teeth on the last of my prey, there will be nothing but my children left and I shall devour them as well, for I am hunger eternal.

zikzak

#19 – 12:23 PM February 27, 2009

Our thick granite walls stood undisturbed as the massive demon outside clawed and screamed murderously. The sound was terrifying, and the men sighed in relief when I reported that the fortress would hold.

But to my horror, the Dervish reared back and began to ... change. With a sickening snapping of bone, even more spines sprouted down its back and tail. The beast's flesh tore open and muscle billowed out, lending it a horrible strength even as blood poured from the wounds.

The walls fell immediately, and three battalions were reduced to a jumble of limbs just as quickly. The Dervish collapsed moments later, its rampage of destruction complete with its own death.

Commander Arban Ironheart, Report from the Battle of Tasalin

JohnLayman

#20 – 2:49 PM February 27, 2009

Mutating Frenzy Legend:

"It seemed to relish the strikes we delivered, pushing relentlessly into our front. There were two sights burned into my thoughts that evening, the shifting violet skin as it enveloped another man's blade, and the grin of the devil stretched across its ever-changing face."

-excerpt from "Nightmares of War", Memoirs of Fmr. Cpt. James Fornon

eeyore

#21 – 4:25 PM February 27, 2009

Such a thing could not live, yet it did. Flesh and sinew melted and crawled across it's twisted body. Fur, skin, bone, and scales grew together, battled, and sloughed away in great sheets of blood and protoplasm to be replaced by other forms. It had sought power once, and immortality, and after the bargain it had welcomed the rising agony. Understanding came too late.

The pain was boundless, unendurable... but endure it did. The bargain was sealed, the 'gift' bestowed... and payment was required. It wanted to die. And as the last fragments of sanity were washed away by waves of unimaginable pain, only one thought remained.

If I cannot die, I can kill.

Robert

#22 – 5:29 PM February 27, 2009

The Mutating Frenzy

Once upon a time there was a Frenzy. A Frenzy that Mutated. It mutated so much -- 120 times, in fact -- that it dominated three demons whose names were Larry, Curly, and Moe. Larry was gray and round and hollow, while Curly and Moe were round and purple. One day, the Frenzy Mutated into a gray square and a golden arrow. The square and arrow kept hitting each other. This made the Frenzy so sad, that it began to have a deathwish.

Larry, Curly, and Moe didn't want this to happen, for the three demons enjoyed being dominated by the Frenzy. Moe pulled out his Xtra-Large sword, Curly said he loved Larry, and Larry, well, being gray and hollow, he hid behind a planet.

Finally, between 16:30 and 19:00 (Greenwich Mean Time), the Frenzy that Mutated got over it, and Larry, Curly, Moe, and the Frenzy all laughed about those smelly guys in threadbare T-shirts playing card games, and lived happily ever after.

Th' end.

Icupnimpn2

#23 – 7:10 PM February 27, 2009

Who has not, as a child, dreamt that their very body was a weapon, suffused with arcane energy or the ability to change form? We meant no real harm, but we were fascinated by legends, power, and destruction. And we knew not yet what was possible or the limits of our corporeal form.

A Mutating Frenzy is possessed of the same active imagination as any young boy. However, its body is not held to the same law as ours - it is as changeable as quicksilver, as hard or sharp as any forged metal, and responds to the demon's every dark impulse. Rarely taking the same form twice, it amuses itself to find new ways to rend and kill.

-The Bestiary of Bazel Tobriath

Ratdog

#24 – 7:55 AM March 2, 2009

I think ROBERT's is the best. I laughed and I cried. I'm just so happy they lived happily ever after. Poor frenzy...

Anonymous Anonymous

#25 – 4:36 AM March 4, 2009

They were dead before they knew what hit them...
 
I watched in stunned horror as the the demon tore through an entire battalion of battle hardened soldiers, barely flinching as they vainly hang on to the hope of survival. Their bullets stood no chance against the dominance of that horrific creature. Few would live to describe such a fate, and I feared for my own life as I made a hasty retreat from the reaches of its blood drenched claws. Pausing, it turned to face me. The rage soaked from its eyes as it abandoned the last of the prey before it and barreled towards me. That image will stay with me forever. I didn't have a death wish, but staring into those vacant evil eyes I knew my end might come soon.
 
The thought of that cruel beast still haunts my dreams. May God have mercy on any that happen upon one of its kind.

bolt

#26 – 8:34 PM March 9, 2009

It killed them. Sarta, Mirgel, Li'lne, they're all dead. Blood, so much blood. It tore Hethe in half. I stared into his eyes as he died.

I can hear it on the other side of the door. It will be here soon.

We didn't mean for it to happen. It was just a trick, a small summoning to pass the time. But it changed, it changed so quickly. Please, Lord, forgive us for what we have unleashed.

Journal of Jaken Stillwell, last entry