Topic: Borderlands: Diablo with guns

[MysterD]

Mad Moxxi - DLC #2 coming to the PC.
Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot - DLC #2 is coming to the PC.
It has been Confirmed.

FelixTheCrazy asks GearBox...

@GearboxSoftware Do we have confirmation the 2nd DLC is also coming out for PC?

From Gearbox's Twitter.

@FelixTheCrazy Yep, it is most definitely coming to PC.

About Mad Moxxi - DLC #2
Info on Mad Moxxi (DLC #2).

UPDATE: Next 'Borderlands' DLC Encourages 6-Hour Marathon Sessions
Posted 34 minutes ago by Russ Frushtick in Interviews, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Borderlands

Just completed a lightning round phone interview with Gearbox regarding the next DLC pack of "Borderlands," entitled "Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot." The initial press release mentioned a focus on arena-based play, and, based on the few arena quests that were in the original release, I didn't think that sounded tremendously interesting. Gearbox's Jon Hemingway, the designer on the next DLC pack, was happy to clarify just what we can expect.

I started off by mentioning the arena quests from the first game, and Hemingway was quick to correct me:

    "This is totally different...basically the idea is that we have this character, Moxxi. She's running this underground coliseum tournament arena thing. The best thing you could compare it to is either Horde mode in 'Gears of War 2' or Firefight mode in 'ODST.' But even those don't quite sum it up.

    "It's all about this crazy Moxxi character, and she's running these tournaments. You go in and fight waves and rounds of monsters, and then she starts changing it all up. She throws out what are called 'Moxxi Maxims,' these rules that dramatically change the way the game play. She'll be like, 'Vampire Rule!' which makes it so that the player's health is constantly draining, but every time you get a kill you get a whole bunch of health back. Now all the players are like, 'Holy crap, I have to play amazingly aggressive,' so you have to charge in before you basically bleed out. Another example, she'll go 'Shotgun Challenge,' where all shotguns do bonus damage and all other guns take a penalty."

The comparisons to "Firefight" seem pretty apt, but in terms of the scale and length, it seems like these battles will go considerably longer. Regarding the play time:

    "There's a small tournament and a big tournament. The small tournament takes probably about an hour, and most people will be able to get through that. The big tournament...one of the things people have been asking for is for something that challenges them, and that's what the big tournament is. I think the last time I went through it, it took me six hours to get through a big tournament. You can't save your progress, you have to do it in one sitting, but you can stop, walk away from it and come back [Ed note: You just can't turn the system off]. It's really hardcore. To get through the big tournament, you'll have to get some friends who are very good and you'll all have to plan out what people are going to do and what weapons you're bringing."

The complaints that "Borderlands" may have been too easy will probably be put to rest once people spend an entire Saturday trying to complete one of these big tournaments. Hardcore indeed.

Oh, and while we're at it, here's official, unedited pitch from Gearbox's Randy Pitchford:

    This is an ENTIRELY NEW GAME MODE.
    Think ODST's "Firefight" or Gears of War's "Horde Mode".
    Cash, prizes and competition!
    It's like Smash TV in coop FPS, but in the Borderlands.

    This DLC expands greatly on the possibilities of combat as well adding a ton of new rules such as vampire mode or low gravity mode etc. This is not just deathmatch arenas [sic].

    These are not just new deathmatch areas.

Yes, he said that twice. His rabid enthusiasm even comes through in email form.

Here's Mad Moxxxi

[idolminds]

Boobs.

I wonder if the heart tattoo is a nod to Trespasser.

[MysterD]

De-Auth Tool for Zombie Island DLC PC
De-Auth Tool released for Borderlands - Zombie Island PC DLC.

You can get it here.

Please find below a list of frequently asked questions we have collected for 'Borderlands: The Zombie Island Of Dr. Ned'

Q: When I try to activate the DLC 'Borderlands: The Zombie Island Of Dr. Ned', I get the error message: 'Too many activations on different PCs or too many reactivations on the same PC have been performed.'

A: Please run the revoke tool, http://download.securom.com/support/borderlands/RevokeDLC1.zip, on the PC where you have originally activated 'Borderlands: The Zombie Island Of Dr. Ned'. After revoking this activation, you will be able to activate your application on a different PC.

[MysterD]

IGN's PC Best Shooter of 2009 is Borderlands.

[MysterD]

Randy Pitchford had a 70 minute podcast interview with Kotaku for their Kotaku Radio Show.
The download is around 16 MB.
Listening to it...

EDIT:
Some of what they talked about:
--Gearbox Studios is actually directly above a bank
--Passing up a "Heat" game (based off the movie).
--How they got "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked" song licensed into the game
--DJ Champion rocked an after-party they went to and that's how they got into his music. Eventually, "No Heaven" was selected as the DJ Champion track they wanted.
--There is going to be a good deal of DLC into the next year (2010).
--There might be DLC down the road to add more different types of vehicles
--Pitchford talks about the Borderlands PC version w/ its issues and problems
--Pitchford talks about PC platform in general w/ PC games and how complex the platform has gotten over the years w/ more different hardware and bunch of Win supported OS's (Win XP, Vista, and 7).
--Why a 3rd person additional viewpoint was NOT in the game
--Crediting (and not crediting) developers in the credits of a game and how it's done in the industry and at Gearbox
--Sequels galore being overdone in the gaming industry

[Schlotzky5]

n you can paint it all kinds o pretty colors t'boot!

[MysterD]

Mad Moxxi DLC #2

Video:
Vid 1 - Horde Wave.
Vid 2 - Bad-Ass Wave.

Impressions:
Read here.

How To Get To Moxxi

Like Zombie Island, you get to The Underdome by fast-traveling to it. Once there, it's clear this isn't exactly the same as the last Zombie download. It's not a whole new zone filled with quests; instead it's a small room filled with multicolored flashing lights that makes it look like a casino. To one side is a claptrap robot dressed in what appears to be a spray on tuxedo, a top hat and a fake mustache. He's the banker, and through him you can store items from your inventory if you want to save them for later. The build I checked out had upgrades for bank space available as well, so I bought one and bumped up the storage capacity to 21 items.

More

There's also a quest board in here, which initially has one assignment available called Prove Yourself. It's added to your quest log, and requires that you clear 5 rounds in three coliseums to get a quest reward. What's a coliseum? Well, each coliseum, of which I saw three, functions like Gears of War 2's Horde mode or Halo 3: ODST's Firefight. Each coliseum is separated from the main room by a load screen, and the first one is called Hell-burbia.

Jumping into this area kicks off with Moxxie -- a particularly energetic woman with fishnet stockings and a circus ringleader outfit -- screaming through a megaphone as slippery electronic beats pulse in the background. There's a crowd hollering as you're set in the middle of an arena that's built from pieces of the rest of the game world, from rusted metal houses to the lighted pumpkins of Jakobs Cove. Then the action kicks off.

The Format Of The Arena Waves

Like in Firefight, the action here progresses in waves. A countdown begins soon after you've started, and once it hits zero you're told what type of wave you'll be facing. The first is called a Starter Wave, and it seems each wave will also have associated modifiers to enemy health and shields, which are also displayed before the action starts. After that, enemies spawn in, which for the Starter Wave was just a bunch of easily dispatched bandits and skags. Once a wave is done there's a short break where health and ammunition pickups will rain down from the sky. You'll need to rush around to pick them up because they'll disappear as soon as the next round begins, and these obviously get important in later waves and rounds where you're forced to expend more ammunition to get to the end.

No Loot and No Experience Gains

Overall the Mad Moxxie download seems to offer a distilled version of the Borderlands experience, but with a few omissions. In an odd move, it seems Gearbox has eliminated loot and experience gain in The Underdome. None of the enemies in the coliseums drop items and killing them awards no experience. I still haven't seen all the kinds of rewards you get for completing arenas, but it still felt like a big component of the standard Borderlands experience was missing while playing through.

EDIT:
Hellface of Gearbox says there is a loot drop, after every Boss under Moxxi's stage.

There is a loot drop after every boss wave right under Moxxi's stage. He was mistaken. Every round, it gets better.

There is no XP gain, because you have sooooo much combat that you'd power level every time you enter the Colloseum and ruin the main game. Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot isn't about leveling up OR the loot. This is about the combat and the challenge.

Of course, if you like loot, it also comes with a bank.

I bet this DLC was meant for character who hit Level 50 End-Gamers.

[scottws]

Ok, so I didn't pay any attention to this game.  The commercial reminds me of that Mercenaries 2 commercial, so it really turned me off as something targeted to the Halo or Madden crowd.  But it's getting some pretty rave reviews, so my interest is piqued.  However, the thread title is "Diablo with guns", yet it's winning all these "Shooter of the Year" awards and Diablo was certainly no shooter.

Can someone clarify for me?

[idolminds]

Its a shooter that takes its overall structure from Diablo. You get quests to go do stuff, this requires you to kill a whole bunch of dudes, the dudes drop randomly generated guns/shields/class mods as loot to pick up, you turn in quests and kill dudes to get XP so you level up and can take on harder quests for more XP.

It is not your typical linear, scripted, story driven FPS.

So instead of "Diablo with guns" its more like "Quake with loot".

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, that's probably a better description.  Otherwise you could easily get the impression it's an isometric action RPG that uses guns rather than fantasy weapons.

[Xessive]

Yeah, that's probably a better description.  Otherwise you could easily get the impression it's an isometric action RPG that uses guns rather than fantasy weapons.

That's exactly what I thought when the "Diablo with guns" description first came around last year or so.

[MysterD]

So instead of "Diablo with guns" its more like "Quake with loot".

Best short-handed description I've heard of Borderlands yet.

EDIT:
Across all platforms, around 2 million units have been sold of Borderlands.

[beo]

me and a couple of friends picked it up a few days ago and we're having a blast.

i picked brick and i'm loving his style of play. shields up, grenades in - CHARGE!

[MysterD]

Mad Moxxi DLC (DLC #2) Previews.
Preview from Joystiq.
Preview from Destructoid.

[PyroMenace]

Giantbomb has a quicklook, it looks like epic fun.

[Quemaqua]

That does look totally fun.  I was sort of waiting to see what would make the idea cool, and that shows it off pretty well.  Looks great!

We just tried the Zombie Island DLC tonight... totally awesome fun.  I'd post screens, but I'm too lazy and didn't take any.  But yeah, it's pretty great.  Seems to definitely be worth the money.  Lots of good humor and zombie killing fun.

[MysterD]

Looks like some good for those who are capped-out at Level 50 - since there's no XP gains and no constant crazy loot drops.

I just wish there was some sort of option to have a 4-player battle in these arenas. But, then again, these Arenas might be WAY TOO big for a battle of just 4 - unless you can do vehicular combat in that.

[Pugnate]

2 million served:

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/61661

[MysterD]

2 million served:

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/61661

0wn3d.

[scottws]

Giantbomb has a quicklook, it looks like epic fun.

The first two minutes of that video make this game (or DLC pack) look like a Bioshock ripoff.  I'm not judging the game, just something I've noticed thus far.

Watching further, obviously it is not.

[MysterD]

Mad Moxxi DLC
GameInformer - Extensive 7 page preview

Gun-Scanner

The second addition is a modest little computer that brings up something called the Gun Scanner. It gives each of the guns in your inventory a QR Code (oh God, not more of those) and an additional string of characters to enter at the Borderlands’ website. What does it do? The website isn’t up yet, so for now it’s still a mystery…

[MysterD]

Borderlands PC = $34.99 currently on Amazon + free saver shipping.

[gpw11]

QR Code?  Do you have to scan the screen with your phone?  What's the fucking point?

[MysterD]

Moxxi DLC interview w/ Gearbox.

[MysterD]

Mad Moxxi DLC #2 interview w/ Matthew Armstrong from Shacknews.

[Xessive]

I just tried out The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned and it is great! The first bit of DLC that I felt was totally worth the cost!

[W7RE]

Mad Moxxi DLC is out for Xbox.

I'm playing right now, and it's pretty cool so far. It's got a lot of style. The music is this bass heavy techno that I actually like (I don't like much techno), and Moxxi sits there and yells about who's doing good or whatever. I'm playing Lilith, so she's talking about Lilith beating up on all these big mean men and such. I started on playthrough 1, even though my character is 42. The initial quest (to survive 5 rounds in 3 different arenas) was level 15, but then when the enemies came out they were level 42. 5 rounds make a wave, then you get a piece or two of loot (loot was level 37 adn 40 for me), and the next wave starts.

Moxxi throws in some random effects to keep things interesting. Some of the stuff I've gotten in just 7 rounds (1 full wave of 5 rounds, and 2 rounds from wave 2):
-increased pistol dmg, lowered dmg to everything else
-zero shields, but added some low health regen, and with lots of the guys that run at you and explode
-huge boost in damage, but huge hit to accuracy

[W7RE]

I was just listening to the Giant Bombcast and they started talking about Mad Moxxi, and I realized I haven't played it since the day I got it. I played for about an hour and haven't touched it since. It's got some style to it that I liked, but hearing Jeff from GB talk about it sort of made me realize why I haven't touched it. You get no XP, no weapon proficiency, no loot (except some pretty average drops at the end of each 5 waves). This all takes place in 3 arenas.

So your quest goes like this:
-survive 5 rounds in arena 1 (each round is 5 waves, with a recycled boss at the end)
-survive 5 rounds in arena 2
-survive 5 rounds in arena 3
-survive 15 rounds in arena 1
-survive 15 rounds in arena 2
-survive 15 rounds in arena 3


I'm probably wrong on the 15 rounds, I can't remember how many it is. 5 rounds in one arena can take you an hour, during which time you can't stop without losing your progress. You can pause, but only if you're on single player mode. So 15 rounds is 3 hours straight, with no pee breaks unless you're playing alone. You get nothing from the entire experience except for the combat itself, and 1 skill point per playthrough. So if you just want to shoot stuff and gain nothing for 3 hours, that's cool. But this is a loot game, so be ready for some no-loot playtime.

[W7RE]

Mad Moxxi is now available for PC and PS3.

[PyroMenace]

I have no problem with not getting any character progression for this DLC because the last DLC Zombie Island got me over leveled for the main game so everything was too easy for my play through. The death match wave and round modifier stuff sounds cool to me, but the length of matches sounds a little overkill, I think I'll still check it out only if some of you guys pick it up to play with because it doesn't sound like I want to do it solo.

[MysterD]

Mad Moxxi is now available for PC and PS3.

Patch 1.20 was released for the PC today, as well.
No word yet on if the Patch ONLY adds Moxxi DLC support or if there's more to it...yet...

EDIT:
Ennui of Gearbox says Patch 1.20 only adds Moxxi DLC support.

This update is similar to 1.1.0, and I do not believe it contains any updates other than those necessary to ensure compatibility with DLC and the game. When fixes are released, so are the relevant notes - you'll note that I've provided notes about changes introduced for updates on all platforms in the relevant technical support forum thread, so I'm not sure where "never gives us notes" comes from.

[idolminds]

God damnit, another 200MB patch that does nothing but enable DLC. What the fuck is taking up all that space?

*EDIT*

See, normally this wouldn't be a big deal and I just wouldn't get the patch. But since pyro has the game on Steam and it will force him to update, if I want to play with pyro I'm going to be forced to update as well.

[MysterD]

God damnit, another 200MB patch that does nothing but enable DLC. What the fuck is taking up all that space?

*EDIT*

See, normally this wouldn't be a big deal and I just wouldn't get the patch. But since pyro has the game on Steam and it will force him to update, if I want to play with pyro I'm going to be forced to update as well.

I'm guessing adding Achievements and the Securom 5-limit install DRM is taking up the space?

[W7RE]

I don't remember getting a patch for Xbox when Mad Moxxi was release. If I did it was small enough to only take a few seconds. Maybe it downloaded and installed it when I installed Mad Moxxi. (I hadn't run the game in about a week)


I'm not really disappointed that I bought this second DLC really. It's just not as good as it could have been, or as good as Zombie Island was. Of course, that was ZOMBIES.

[MysterD]

Ennui says that Patch 1.20 PC did change some things.

PC Update 1.2.0 has been released. If you have a physical copy of the game, you can download the update here:http://www.gearboxsoftware.com/games/borderlands/. If you have a digital version, your retailer should provide you with the update.

Here are the notes for the changes in update 1.2.0:

    * Fixed a bug that kept challenges from unlocking for the rest of a session after visiting arenas
    * Fixed some formatting issues with the server list screen
    * Fixed an issue causing servers to report the incorrect plot mission
    * Proficiency progress to the next level should no longer be lost when leaving a multiplayer game as a client
    * Fixed a progression issue in the Find Steele mission - characters affected by this issue should now be able to continue progressing
    * Most instances involving character data loss when playing online should no longer occur
    * Addressed some exploits involving character level and backpack size
    * Fixed a bug that allowed Mordecai to spawn multiple Bloodwings
    * Mordecai's "Loaded" skill now increases mag capacity by 20%
    * Roland's "Scattershot" skill has had its spread adjustment corrected, and damage now increases at +5 per level
    * Improved the refresh speed for the server browser
    * Support for DLC 2 added

[MysterD]

Mad Moxxi Reviews

IGN
6.0 for X360, PS3, and PC.

Borderlands could never stand alone as a pure shooter and the net code was never strong enough to make an idea like this a compelling one. That problem is compounded by the fact that enemies don't drop loot and you don't get experience points for killing them. Beat a set of five waves and you'll get a small set of mediocre loot. Beat a quest and you'll get some XP, but other than that you're just killing enemies.

It feels like Mad Moxxi misses the point. This was always a game about level grinding and loot pickups. You get neither here.

You can still play Mad Moxxi with up to four players cooperatively. In fact, if you don't have a group of friends willing to pony up the $10 asking price, you'd be better served skipping this add-on entirely. The arena battles do not scale to the number of players properly at all. Playing with one or two players makes this series of challenges nearly impossible. Even with three it is difficult.

Giant Bomb
2 stars (out of 5) for the 360 version.

Mad Moxxi could be a great character, but the Borderlands expansion bearing her name--Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot--is a real dud. Taking the combat of Gearbox's first-person action-RPG and cramming it into a wave-based arena format that draws comparisons to Halo 3: ODST's Firefight mode isn't an awful idea. But by stripping away all of the character progression and loot-scavenging that gives the whole game its hook, you're left with combat for combat's sake, which makes for an extremely repetitive and empty experience.

[MysterD]

Borderlands - Add-On Box (#1) for PC and X360 is listed on GameStop for sale at $19.99.
It'll contain both Zombie Island and Mad Moxxi.

If this is so true - yes, please!

[idolminds]

Well, that'll be handy.

[MysterD]

HatTs of Gearbox speaks on upcoming DLC #3.

Hey guys!

Sorry, I haven’t gotten to post on the forums in a while! After finalizing Zombies DLC, the team and I began reading the DLC feedback around the forums on the wants and desires. Guess what, level cap increase anyone? Got it and it's awesome.

Hopefully we can get a full announcement out to you guys soon but, man is this the biggest DLC we have made. So don’t worry, we are working really hard right now on both the update (that solves a bunch of issues) and the DLC. More to come guys!!

[MysterD]

Interview w/ Gearbox on Borderlands - its past, present, and future.