Fans of the sandbox MMORPG The Repopulation are shocked and saddened, but Above & Beyond Technologies have had to announce the temporary shutdown of the alpha servers with a heavy heart.
The MMO, which is considered to be the unofficial successor to Star Wars Galaxies and Ultima Online, has gone through a difficult time for which the developers bear no responsibility. The developers of the underlying Hero Engine are struggling with financial issues, and this directly impacts the ongoing development of The Repopulation, since the Hero Engine is used in this game. Without further updates to the engine, it is not possible to implement new features and changes into the game.
The End of The Repopulation?
The further development of the game has also been halted. Until the issues with the Hero Engine developer Idea Fabrik can be resolved. Additionally, it was necessary to stop the sales of the game, and since the servers incur ongoing costs that can no longer be covered, they have had to be taken offline. Above & Beyond Technologies explain that this does not mean the end of The Repopulation. However, they also do not expect the problems with Idea Fabrik to be resolved anytime soon. Therefore, fans of the MMORPG should prepare for an extended downtime.
Developers Considering Contingency Plans
The developers are currently considering a solution themselves and want to negotiate with other developers. Could this mean that they are already contemplating an engine switch internally? However, this would result in further and quite lengthy delays regarding the release of The Repopulation. However, the current situation with the Hero Engine is more than unsatisfactory. For both the developers and the players. For now, they need to save money, which is being achieved by shutting down the alpha servers. Hopefully, more information about this situation will be available soon.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Today, the Sparrow event, the SRL, ended in Destiny . How did the races fare with the players?
Says softly “Goodbye” one last time.
The year 2015 is coming to a strong end. Now begins the time when crowds of people rush into the stores to stock up on fireworks in all colors and volumes for New Year’s Eve.
Today, the Sparrow event in Destiny ended, but without a big bang or bright colors. It somehow just trickled away. Around Christmas, a message briefly appeared in the Orbit stating that the event would end next week…and now it is. That’s it.
At the beginning of the SRL, this site already reported extensively on the first experiences of the event. Naturally, Mein-MMO readers commented diligently and shared their impressions. These comments ranged from “failed and monotonous” (anonymous user) to “absolutely successful” (Andreas Ganter). Our diligent reader ‘dh’ finds the Sparrow League “quite fun“, but prefers regular PvP or PvE. However, he admits that the new Sparrows “look very good“. This is probably also an important point why so many Guardians were drawn to the Sparrow and the SRL. After all, everyone likes to have a cool new Sparrow.
A bit of variety, but not very well developed
SpaceEse’ also finds that the event is enjoyable. It is “a small mini-game that has nothing to do with the actual game genre“, but still is “quite funny“. Many comments echoed this opinion; however, additional conditions were placed on the success of the event. ‘PSN: Fina-1980’ finds it “well done“, “but still has room for improvement“. In particular, the low number of different tracks leaves a skeptical impression: “The tracks become very boring over time” (Robert Theisinger). He suggests “to exploit the familiar paths during patrols by connecting track sections with others” and using that as a racetrack. Certainly an interesting idea.
Regarding the low number of tracks, it can be said: Yes! There are definitely too few. But for a few hours, one was occupied until they knew the shortcuts, figured out where the ideal line is, and memorized tricky sections. When one successfully applies this know-how and thus puts a few meters between themselves and the others, it is quite satisfying. But for three weeks of engagement, this fun – at least for me – wasn’t enough.
Other readers, like ‘Malcolm2402’, wished for “weapons lying on the track” and made references to “Mario Kart”. Who knows, maybe something similar will come in the future.
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In general, the loot was praised (e.g., by ‘Hannibal’ or ‘Andreas Ganter’), which goes up to Light 320 from SRL Level 3. However, one has to play for quite a while to reach this level. For many, the motivation was not enough. It was also disappointing that there were no rewards at our friend Amanda Holliday from SRL Level 4, 5, or higher. This did not really motivate the Guardians.
In conclusion, it can be stated that the Sparrow event was certainly a nice change. Shooting and racing, who doesn’t enjoy that? But unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to keep the Guardians engaged for weeks. I found it quite fun to put together my racing outfit, which actually looked pretty sleek. But that was achieved in just a few days. Then the allure significantly faded.
With finesse and speed, without long-term motivation
It is perhaps worth mentioning positively that a searching quest was also introduced during the Sparrow event, where one could happily shoot as well. “With finesse and speed” was the motto; the goal was to hunt the Taken. I had to chuckle a bit during the detailed description of this quest: “I promised Zavala that the SRL would not distract anyone […] – Amanda Holliday”. Zavala probably didn’t have to worry too much. The SRL didn’t distract me for long. It was still fun.
Let’s see what events will come in the future. Our reader ‘Sentcore’ modestly wishes for “spaceship battles“. I second this wish; that could also be quite fun.
How about you? Have your opinions on the Sparrow event changed after three weeks, or have they been confirmed?
This article is from our reader Ttime90. He is also the author of these two articles on Mein-MMO.de:
Monster Hunter Online looks absolutely stunning, but now the developers have added an HD patch – is it worth it?
Increase the game size by nearly 50%
The online spin-off of Monster Hunter is quite a graphical spectacle, as it is based on the already powerful CryEngine 3. However, it seems that the developers at Tencent Games were not satisfied with this, as they have now released an optional patch that can significantly enhance the graphics.
The main change involves replacing the textures with even higher resolution HD textures, which significantly increase the level of detail in many areas. Steparu has tried this patch directly and published a video of it.
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Whether the proud 10 GB, which inflate the game’s total size to 33 GB, is really worth it will probably be a decision everyone has to make for themselves.
Monster Hunter Online is currently only available in Chinese and there are no plans to release the game in other regions yet. However, since there is no IP restriction, some fans are already working on a patch to allow English-speaking players to enjoy the title.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The US site mmorpg.com awarded TESO the MMO of the Year 2015, and this has immediately been included in a PR campaign as a banner. Additionally, they proudly present their successes in 2015 to the fans:
In November, the second DLC was released for Orsinium
Furthermore, they highlight these successes:
Of course, it doesn’t stop with the points mentioned above; the list of improvements and additions to the game is long: automatic level adjustments for existing dungeons, the ultimate challenge for solo players with the Maelstrom Arena, two brand new dungeons, subtitles, and controller support for PC, to name just a few. With nearly weekly updates, we managed to introduce a lot of improvements! How else would we have been able to integrate the over 100 new items from the Crown Store or the 33,000 lines of new voiceovers into the game?
In 2016, TESO starts with strong momentum from the 1 million action and aims to release a player expansion each quarter, planning to begin with the Thieves Guild and the Dark Brotherhood in the first and second quarter of 2016.
Mein MMO says:Yes, the success story told in Zenimax’s words should be taken with caution during the first half of 2015. The calendar, which seems to indicate something significant happening in every season, is a thing.
Looking back, it surely sounds more impressive than saying “Well, the champion and justice systems were actually planned for 2014, but they got delayed for a long time and we only introduced the first phases of both systems. Even by the end of 2015, all of this was still piecemeal, and actually, there wasn’t much happening in the PC version of TESO for a good three-quarters of a year.” And well, the launch for consoles was always intended for the summer, originally planned for 2014.
But okay, let’s save such comments for our own year-end review of TESO. We don’t want to play the naysayers here. Overall, Zenimax can certainly look back on the last year of The Elder Scrolls Online with pride. Or what do you think?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The early access version of the MMORPG Project Genom received a major update introducing the open-world gameplay.
From now on, early access owners can explore a vast world without any loading times. This is beautifully presented thanks to Unreal Engine 4 and invites exploration. The game’s screenshots show how diverse the distant planet looks, where humanity has sought refuge.
Human, Cyborg or Mutant?
The update also introduces further features. Among them is the leveling system, through which you can alter your hero’s internal organs. Throughout the game, you will have the opportunity to evolve your organs, allowing you to remain human. Alternatively, you can replace your organs with artificial ones, gradually transforming you into a synthetic life form. Additionally, it is possible to become a mutant through genetic modifications. Each organ grants you access to active and passive skills that you unlock and improve by spending points.
Quite Sick
However, there will also be diseases in the game. While exploring the now-open world, you can catch these diseases. They affect your organs and may temporarily block skills or cause various effects that your hero suffers from. You then have to set out to find a cure before the disease spreads and affects more organs. In some cases, this could even lead to your entire organism being infected and unable to withstand the disease any longer. Then your hero dies.
The MMORPG Project Genom is expected to be released over the coming year and combines elements of shooter and MMORPG.
The shipping giant Amazon has revealed the 3 best-selling games. Star Wars Battlefront is one of them.
Amazon joyfully issued a press release over the holidays, highlighting how well everything is going, how often the premium service Prime was sold (3 million times worldwide in December). They made twice as much revenue as last year, and everything is going according to plan for the big flow.
Amid all this “self-congratulatory back-patting,” there was news for gamers. They revealed the three games that sold best during the holidays. These are the Christmas blockbusters of the year, in no particular order: Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Fallout 4, and Star Wars Battlefront.
Seems like EA’s prophecy is coming true. Earlier in December, citing not-so-great sales numbers, they mentioned, we think Battlefront will sell well over the holidays. There were no concerns about Fallout 4 and Call of Duty, as it was clear early on: these are hits, not just for Shooter Christmas.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
From the failure “Titan” comes Overwatch and a hype is created. How did Blizzard achieve this?
Two Games Through the Ages
Yesterday, on December 28, 2015, the Los Angeles Times published an extensive article about “Titan” and “Overwatch”, compiling numerous pieces of information. The Times focused mainly on how Blizzard dealt with the failure of Titan and how the new project Overwatch was able to emerge from it, which players worldwide are now eagerly anticipating.
For Blizzard, it was the better option to discontinue Titan and write off the millions invested rather than risk a loss of reputation from a game that is not fun: Thus, they buried Titan.Normally, the responsible person is held accountable for the disaster – not so in the case of Game Director Jeff Kaplan. He was neither fired nor removed from his position, but was assigned to a new project in the same position: Overwatch.
When Kaplan had to sell his idea to Activision boss Kotick, he was worried that Kotick would be less interested in creativity and more in hard numbers. However, during the presentation, Kotick immediately fell in love with the character designs, especially Torbjörn captivated him. Since that first conversation, Kotick has become an advocate for the game and even traveled to Blizzard in Irvine to play it.
With the new project, several things also changed:
During Titan’s peak popularity of WoW, there was confidence, even arrogance, but with Overwatch, humility and modesty returned.
Where there were 150 employees for Titan, the Overwatch team was shrunk to 80. The aim was to minimize bureaucracy and maximize the creativity of the individual. Blizzard had already proven that even small games can achieve great success with Hearthstone – a large quantity is not always necessary.
Additionally, they tossed out the rules that ultimately crippled Titan. There were simply too many rules and constraints, such as the prohibition of flying cars. For Overwatch, there is only one rule: Every car must fly (i.e., no rules anymore).
Developers play twice a day – that’s how problems are identified most quickly.
What is particularly notable is how Overwatch is handled by the developers. All employees meet three times a week to discuss the latest tasks and to advance the common vision of the game. Even twice a day, they play to identify bugs and design missteps early on – one could say that at Blizzard, there is basically a LAN party going on continuously.
Although there were numerous speculations about Titan and anticipation among some fans was high, Overwatch managed to excite entire crowds directly with its announcement at BlizzCon. Although there are no official figures for pre-orders yet, there is no doubt that Overwatch will strike like a bomb.
Mein-MMO says: Although the story surrounding Overwatch sounds a bit like a fairy tale at the LA Times, at least some aspects of it cannot be denied. Only a few companies would likely recover from the cancellation of a large project like Titan. This is, of course, not least due to the fact that Blizzard has been around for over 22 years and has built up corresponding financial reserves.
Almost any other game studio would likely crumble under the failure of such a large project. However, this security also allows Blizzard to deliver high-quality games. Unlike many “released to the customer” titles, Blizzard products are always incredibly polished – a rarity in today’s market.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
It is finally time, the release of Blade & Soul is approaching. We will tell you when it starts and which servers will be available.
3 Days for Name Reservation
Update: The forum post by the community manager has been revised. The times in the article have been adjusted.
Relatively early next year, Blade & Soul will enter the heated phase. After various beta weekends in the past, the release is on the agenda. But when exactly does the character name reservation begin? When does the promised head start for founders start, and when does it commence? When is the release date of Blade and Soul in Europe? We have the details for you.
The name reservation for the European servers begins on Monday, January 11 at 7:00 PM and will last for 3 days. Consequently, this opportunity will end on Thursday, January 14 at 7:00 PM.
Exactly one day later, on Friday, January 15 at 7:00 PM the head start begins for all players who have secured the appropriate founder’s package. Buyers have a full 3 1/2 days advantage over ordinary mortals to accumulate a significant level and gold lead.
Starting from January 19 at 6:00 AM, the servers will then open for all free-to-play players and Blade & Soul will officially be released in the West!
In total, there will be 3 different German-speaking servers available at launch. The community manager points out that you should carefully consider your choice of server, as transferring to other servers will not be available at the beginning. The choice is therefore – at least for now – binding. Get in touch with your friends to avoid unnecessary problems. The options are:
Frostgipfel
Bambusdorf
Windweide
The year is starting off with an absolute blast of Blade & Soul. For more information about the game, you can find it on our Blade & Soul theme page.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the MMO shooter Destiny there is a fresh Nightfall Strike and the raid challenge for Ogre Golgoroth one last time in 2015 on 29th December.
Today, a season change is taking place in the Tower of Destiny. Now at 10:00 AM, the Sparrow race will come to an end. This evening “sometime after 7:00 PM”, the Iron Banner is supposed to start, for the first time with PlayStation-exclusive armor pieces. We will report on that separately.
First, let’s talk about the weekly challenges.
Nightfall Strike on 29th December in Destiny
The Nightfall Strike leads the Guardians this week into Cerebus Vae III against Rockets Mc Dickface, as he is affectionately called, his actual name is Valus Ta’aurc.
Modifiers are:
Solar Flare – Solar damage from the Guardians is doubled; if enemies cause it, it is even tripled
Primary Weapons – Primary weapons are preferred as the weapon
Juggler – You do not find ammunition for the weapon you are using while an enemy dies
Grounded – Guardians take more damage in the air, so they should stay on the ground
The Witch Kagoor is the T3 boss in the Court of Oryx with her Ogre buddies.
Are there tips, tricks, videos for the challenges this week starting from 29th December?
For the last challenges in 2015, we will present videos throughout the day showing how to successfully overcome each opponent or complete the Nightfall Strike.
With the Nightfall Strike, Nexxoss Gaming is coming together this week. A meeting of the flavor of walnut-grape, so to speak:
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Capcom has announced that next spring they will release the ninth class in Dragon’s Dogma: the Elemental Archer.
New Class and Season 2!
Although Dragon’s Dogma Online has only been released in Japan so far, interest in the title in Europe remains quite high. The latest announcement from Capcom could further spur interest, as they plan to release the major patch 1.3 already in spring 2016. A core aspect of this update will be the new class, the Elemental Archer – you can check out what this class can do in this video.
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Additionally, it has been promised to start the second season with patch 2.0 in summer 2016. This will introduce a space where players can spend time with their followers – those who recall the garrison from World of Warcraft are not entirely wrong. Besides, there will also be new areas, more storylines, numerous new enemies, and further innovations. Exact details will be published at a later time.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the MMORPG Entropia Universe, known for its real-money trading, a unique weapon sold for over $50,000.
As reported by Massively, another milestone has been reached in Entropia Universe. The MMORPG promotes its “real money trading.” A special weapon fetched prices that might leave players of other MMOs speechless.
In 2005, the rifle “Dub & McCormick Terminator” was awarded as a prize for a community video contest. Since then, the weapon has changed hands several times and has continually increased in price. The most recent owner paid $51,796 for it this summer. That is 47,207 Euros at today’s exchange rate.
Just a week ago, Massively reported that you can now directly buy “invisible clothing” for $5,000 in Entropia Universe. In Entropia Universe, real-money trading, often frowned upon in many other MMORPGs, is permitted, and it has exchange rates of 1:1.
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In the fantasy MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, the New Year is celebrated with the Monkey theme.
Starting at 4:00 PM on New Year’s Eve, December 31, the “Heavens’ Turn” event begins in Final Fantasy XIV. The zodiac sign changes. 2016 is the “Year of the Monkey” in Japan – this also affects the MMO from Square Enix. The “Heavens’ Turn” event runs until January 14.
The festivities start in Old Gridania, with the NPC Monkey Minister. Rewards include the three helmets “See Nothing”, “Hear Nothing”, and “Speak Nothing”, along with an orange basket and a Paissa doll as table decoration.
For those who want to celebrate Final Fantasy live in 2016, the North America festival takes place in October in LA, and there’s a fan festival in Tokyo for Christmas. Only in February 2017 will everything revolve around the Final Fantasy MMO in Germany, in Frankfurt, during a two-day event. Who knows what developments we will experience by then.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The movie about Warcraft is getting its own set of trading cards, which will likely be aimed mainly at hardcore fans.
No values, but sentimental value
At the end of May 2016, the long-awaited release of the Warcraft movie is approaching, which fans have been waiting for for more than 6 years. Coinciding with the release, the company Topps is set to launch a series of trading cards. Unlike the original Warcraft TCG, these cards will not have any “values” and thus will not be game cards – they are purely collectible items displaying various scenes from the film.
However, there will still be rarer cards that contain autographs from the actors or have a real fabric emblem of the Horde or Alliance embedded in them. Whether these cards will be available in the European market remains to be seen, but nothing should stand in the way of an import from America.
Please note that the cards shown here do not necessarily have to correspond to the final designs. These may change during the production process.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
We often look longingly to the East and dream of all the wondrous games that they have in Japan, Korea, and China. Only a few Asians likely gaze longingly at us, but if they did, they would soon have one less reason to do so.
The western fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online will be released on June 23, 2016, in Japan. Prices are 7949 Yen (60 Euros) for the standard edition and 12744 Yen (96 Euros) for the deluxe edition. The game will be distributed in Japan as Buy2Play, and those who subscribe will receive an EXP bonus.
In the MMO shooter Destiny there are for the last time in 2015 the videos of the week for Destiny.
Bungie is now taking a break until the end of January. In the last edition of the Weekly Update, there were no “Videos of the Week,” but the winners of the Sparrow Video Contest were announced. This is the winner.
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This should be it for 2015 with the videos of the week. If you come across something in the new year that you think we should check out, send it to us via the contact form. We will take a look at it, and maybe it will appear here among the first videos of the week in 2016!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
“Early Access should not fund the game!” says the head of ARK: Survival Evolved. A bit ironic, isn’t it? Read for yourself what he means…
Use Early Access only in good condition
At first glance, it sounds like a belated April Fools’ joke, but the co-founder of Studio Wildcard, responsible for ARK: Survival Evolved, critically views the Early Access model. Steve Rapczak emphasizes that developers should not see this as a source to truly fund their game.
From ARK’s perspective, this sounds particularly strange, as the game attracted 2,500,000 players during its Early Access phase, all of whom paid for it. So how does Rapczak come to this thought?
ARK felt relatively polished even at the start of Early Access.
“[Early Access] is a good way to quickly gather large amounts of feedback when the game is already in good shape. This can improve the game until one is convinced it is ready for launch. (…) One does not wait until launch to identify design or balancing issues. When we launch on all platforms, we are sure the game must show what it can really do.”
For this reason, it is important not to view Early Access as a method of funding, as this system would quickly disappear.
New content only expands – the core framework has been stable for a long time.
“One can certainly make a profit [with Early Access] to advance development, but I wouldn’t recommend anyone to think of it that way, as it involves new risks. Although it is always stated in the fine print that an EA title might never be released, that is not something this model can bear from the customer’s perspective. If many games are funded through Early Access and then are not released, this model will be quickly abolished.“
Mein-MMO thinks: Of course, no one can help but chuckle a bit when hearing these words from developers who have arguably benefited the most from Early Access in the past year. Subjectively speaking, his statement does hold true. Customers are becoming more cautious, and “Early Access” is slowly acquiring the unpleasant connotation once associated with “Free2Play” games. More and more often, friends and acquaintances choose not to buy games until they are out of this phase. Well-known titles like “DayZ,” which never made it, remain a cautionary example.
Despite hundreds of thousands of fans in Early Access, it fades away: DayZ
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The developers of City State Entertainment (CSE) and their upcoming game Camelot Unchained (RvR-MMORPG) have had a turbulent year, which they concluded with a multi-hour livestream at the end of the year. This consists of two parts, a gameplay presentation and an extensive introduction of the crafting system. We will present the latter in a separate report.
A turbulent year comes to an end
After Mark Jacobs and his team were quite confident about the development of Camelot Unchained at the beginning of the year during the presentation of the first pre-alpha gameplay, they faced a major setback a few months later. After the guys at CSE had unsuccessfully tried to fill key positions in the team for several months, the planned Beta #1 phase in July had to be postponed. However, it should begin by the end of March 2016 at the latest.
The dense pine forest is the latest biome of CU and thanks to “Line of Sight” the bane of all ranged fighters
One of the highlights of the livestream was that there was new alpha gameplay on display again, which, based on the viewers’ reactions, seemed to be well received. Over 600 players and bots, including myself, gathered at a spot in the middle of the test island and engaged in a massive battle. The performance was quite good, as you can see in the video, considering that the system is not yet optimized and not just on the developers’ computers. Even my older rig (CPU: i5 3570k / GPU: 7950 ghz edt. / RAM: 8 GB DDR3 / SSD) achieved 45 to 55 FPS outside and at the edges of the battles and still 20 to 24 FPS in the midst of heavy action.
Over 600 players and differently equipped bots clashed in tight quarters
Mark Jacobs and his team also expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the live test:
The bots consume more resources than the average player. They are not just simple NPCs, but separate versions of the PC client that we run for testing. They also consume more bandwidth than normal players because they perform more actions per minute, as they never pause between actions. After completing the planned optimizations, we should be able to depict around 1000 players smoothly and without issues. In one of the pretests, we already managed to have 3000 backers and bots together in a small area before our physics system eventually begged for mercy.
In addition to the large battle, the livestream also showcased the first new biome, a dense pine forest. All assets are created by the designers themselves, as Camelot Unchained, unlike other games such as Shroud of the Avatar, cannot rely on pre-made tree, bush, or grass models from a ready-made engine (Unity, Unreal, etc.), but started from scratch with its own engine. According to the designers, this is still in the early stages and will improve significantly throughout the beta.
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What can we expect from indie MMOs in 2016? Are they really saving the genre?
The end of the year is approaching and around the holidays, indie developers seem to have taken some time off, so very little – if anything – has happened in this area last week. Therefore, in this issue of the Respec column, we are looking not back, but forward.
What do we expect in the indie sector for the year 2016? For one, there are still plenty of interesting titles in development, such as Shroud of the Avatar, Crowfall, Gloria Victis, Chronicles of Elyria, or Revival. We expect significant progress from these games in the coming year, if not even an official release for one or the other title. You will increasingly see the games take shape and, above all, form. They will develop into full-fledged MMOs that you want to play, while from some we still know too little or they are in a state where playing them simply isn’t fun yet.
New announcements in the indie sector
In addition, we also expect that there will be some new announcements. The indie sector could become a new playground for MMO developers. Looking back at the past years, there have been hardly any new announcements of MMORPGs from major studios. Therefore, we can hardly expect AAA MMORPGs. But this could herald a golden age for indie MMOs. In the indie sector, it is possible to focus more on gameplay mechanics and content rather than top-notch graphics.
Graphics are something that consumes the most money during the development of a game. If you focus on the content, it is possible to bring innovations to the genre. New ideas are possible, just like new scenarios. You can experiment more, leading to the establishment of new trends.
The genre will evolve
And it is this fresh wind that the genre needs, which seems to be brought about by indie developers and not by big studios. Large studios rely more on tried and tested formulas, as this involves less risk and prevents them from quickly throwing millions down the drain. An indie project, which has a significantly lower budget, takes fewer risks in this regard.
Moreover, indie developers are often much more passionate about what they’re doing than those from large studios, who may also be under the direction of a major publisher. This passion allows them to try out new ideas. They are still gamers and create the games they themselves would like to play.
Therefore, there is no need to fear a decline for the genre of MMORPGs in 2016. Particularly in the indie sector, we will probably see very interesting projects. Which of them will succeed and which will even be released remains to be seen. However, 2016 is sure to be a very interesting year and we are already looking forward to what we will get to play and what will be newly announced.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
At Evolve, all players receive a new, free character. Tech Sergeant Hank has arrived on Shear!
Shields for Everyone!
At Turtle Rock Studios, the developers of Evolve, there has been a principle of adaptations for several months. Here, existing characters are altered slightly in their equipment to present them to players as free characters. The changes are extensive enough that the gameplay often changes completely! The latest addition of these adaptations is the support Tech Sergeant Hank, now available to all players. Let’s take a quick look at his equipment:
More technology, more abilities – Tech Sergeant Hank expands the team.
The already known Laser Cutter works a bit differently than before. Instead of firing single shots, it now generates a continuous beam that deals damage over time. The pure damage effect seems to be roughly identical.
The Shield Charger has received an entirely new function. Instead of protecting allies during battle with a shield, Hank can now give all hunters a shield before the fight that remains; he essentially “charges” the shields of all hunters. Thus, the monster has to remove a shield from each hunter at the start of the fight, effectively doubling the HP pool! However, as a trade-off, the pure shield effect of the generator has been slightly reduced.
The Orbital Drill replaces the bombing strike. Instead, Hank calls down a powerful laser beam from the sky that remains active for several seconds and deals massive damage. Particularly nasty: the laser follows the first hit target for a while. This is perfect for driving the monster away from a fallen teammate.
Tech Sergeant Hank is a sensible extension of the hunters, requiring new tactics and strategies from both sides to be successful in battle.
In World of Warships, there is a new patch that may particularly please anime fans. But retro America fans will also get their money’s worth.
Anime in 1940s New York?
In keeping with the New Year, patch 0.5.2 for World of Warships brings some new features. Among the highlights is a new port that represents New York around the year 1940 – perfect for the New Year’s celebration with a full moon and some fireworks to commemorate the occasion. Anime lovers, on the other hand, will receive the port of Yokosuka, which should make the hearts of otakus beat faster. Here you can find various ships from the series Arpeggio of Blue Steel: ARS NOVA, along with their anime girl AI, who steer the ships.
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However, World of Warships generally places a high value on realism and historical details; this means that only players who have selected the corresponding port can see the special anime ships. For the rest of the player base, the ships have their “usual” design – as they are only variations of existing models.
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