ArcheAge: Almost 1 year later, CEO Hartsman acknowledges mistakes at launch

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 3 minutes

The Sandpark MMO ArcheAge had a tumultuous start in September 2014. Now, almost a year later, the CEO of publisher Trion Worlds, Scott Hartsman, admits mistakes.

Devilian Wallpaper

Last year, hardly anyone wanted to know about this. In interviews, it was long said that things were going fantastic with ArcheAge. In December, as serious problems became apparent and could no longer be denied, the CEO of Trion Worlds, Scott Hartsman, spread good cheer – but already made it clear, that a little more development time would have benefited the Western version of the Korean game.

Now, however, the phase of downplaying the problems with ArcheAge is over; priorities have shifted.

Now Trion Worlds wants to bring a new game from Korea to the Western market, the action MMORPG Devilian: But a lot of porcelain has been shattered, a lot of trust has been destroyed, including at the US site MMO-Bomb. They were extremely disappointed with how things went with ArcheAge. They stated that the developers destroyed all the “credit” they had built up with Rift.

These two mistakes are acknowledged by CEO Scott Hartsman at the launch of ArcheAge

In the interview, Hartsman also admits two mistakes from back then that they will not repeat:

  • They integrated the shop and other systems too late in development. This should have happened in Alpha and Beta in front of a “live audience”. It was the first time they worked with a partner from Korea, and they learned from it: In the future, the Beta should be more like the “finished product”.
  • And secondly, they brought all “hardware” live at that time, to cope with the influx. This meant that there was no test server for 6 weeks. This should not happen again. The new game will have a dedicated test server.
ArcheAge Auroria

Questions remain

Mein MMO means: It’s a shame that Hartsman does not address why they deemed it necessary to bring the Auroria patch at the beginning of November despite a lack of test servers. Auroria was the goal that many had worked towards. Here it was necessary to capture fortifications in a short sprint. Everything had to go smoothly to ensure fair conditions. But on the critical day, there were major technical problems where half of the players in the USA could not log in. And this gave the MMORPG a serious setback, from which it seems it has hardly recovered to this day.

ArcheAge Farmer Message
Fan reaction from the crisis time: Say it with flowers.

At the time, there was the impression that Trion Worlds wanted to deliver game content despite all the problems to financially exploit the “hot phase”. Possibly a “tightly secured” schedule with the Korean partners was the reason. This could also explain the enormously accelerated start phase. They rushed from Closed Beta to Open Beta to a head start without a break for their team. They occupied a favorable time window between WildStar and the then-new WoW expansion, but also paid for it with a multitude of technical difficulties that turned November and December into a nightmare, almost making ArcheAge a “running gag”.

At the end of the year, ArcheAge was voted “MMO Fail 2014” by a US site, and it also took first place on our list.

If you listen to Hartsman, everything suggested that the Beta phase should have been significantly extended and that the Auroria patch should not have been brought in November and virtually “blindly”, without a test server. A decision that turned out to be disastrous in hindsight.

However, it is unclear whether this timeline arose from overly tight expectations from the Korean partners. Or whether Trion Worlds simply overextended themselves in the rush to launch the “hot title” and then continue to refine it.

Either way: Trion Worlds says they have learned from it.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. MMO Bomb

Armored Warfare: From 5 PM, tanks roll into July Early Access – here is the new trailer

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In the World of Tanks competitor Armored Warfare, tanks are rolling again in Early Access starting today, July 1st.

Armored Warfare aims to start where the tank game World of Tanks leaves off, roughly during the Korean War, it focuses on “modern warfare.”

The next 14 days will feature another Early Access phase. Those with access (meaning pre-order customers and lucky selected ones) can:

  • play on weekdays from 5 PM to 11 PM
  • play continuously on weekends.

This applies from July 1st to July 14th. That’s how long the Early Access lasts.

Armored Warfare Early Access

These are the most important changes that Modern Warfare has received between the last Early Access and this one:

  • Tier 8 vehicles added to the dealer trees
  • “Lowest” settings have been added to the graphics options to support more dual-core CPUs and some older GPUs
  • Further optimizations added to improve performance for all players
  • Stickers can now be applied to vehicles
  • Player versus Environment (PvE) mode: Missions are now available (on easy, medium, and hard difficulty)

The patch is about 6 GB in size. In the sources, you will find further details as well as the registration page.

And here is the new PvE trailer for the game:

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  1. Armored Warfare

SMITE patch and contest: Ravana, the invincible demon king

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 2 minutes

Since yesterday, the latest patch “Combo Breaker” for SMITE is available and has brought along not only a new god but also numerous gameplay changes. Furthermore, fresh skins are once again waiting for new owners …

Ravana, the Demon King of Lanka

Ravana is immune to gods and demons - fortunately only in the lore.
Ravana is immune to gods and demons – fortunately only in the lore.

The Demon King of Lanka was not always strong. He had to sacrifice his own head to the goddess Shiva ten times until she finally heard his prayers. Ravana desired immortality; instead, he received invulnerability against all those he saw as threats: gods and demons. He subdued a large part of the world because no one could challenge his power. It was Vishnu who found his weakness: He allowed himself to be reborn in the form of the simple man Rama – because divine invulnerability does not help against humans.

In SMITE, Ravana is quite an offensive warrior, but he has no escape mechanisms:

  • His passive ability Chain of Blows generates stacks with successfully executed basic attacks, which enhance his ability “Prana Onslaught” by 7.5% each. The maximum is 8 stacks (60%) and they are consumed when used.
  • Prana Onslaught deals damage in a small cone area and slows affected enemies.
  • The Overhead Kick shoots an energy wave straight ahead, piercing enemies and dealing damage. During the casting, Prana is immune to any damage for 0.75 seconds.
  • His 10-Hand Shadow Fist deals damage in a straight line, pierces minions, and ends at the first enemy god hit. Enemy gods are briefly rooted, and Ravana is healed by a small amount for each enemy hit.
  • His ultimate ability Mystic Rush makes him charge at a targeted enemy, dealing damage. Subsequently, Ravana is bound to the target for a few seconds. All non-bonded enemies deal only 60% damage to Ravana.

Thus, Ravana offers an interesting mix of tank and offensive abilities and can successfully fulfill both roles.

New Skins: Dragon King Ao Kuang and Iron Crow Hou Yi

Ao Kuang gets his first Tier 2 skin, the “Dragon King“, with this patch. As usual, this is just an extension of his original appearance; the Dragon Lord receives horns and jade crystals, giving him a more imposing look.

Players of Hou Yi can look forward to the “Iron Crow” skin, which has quite hefty requirements. To obtain it, the player must accumulate over 7000 fantasy points by January 2016. Each victory while equipped with the “Season Ticket 2015” yields 15 points. Additional points can be earned through a betting game where players can bet on the winners of the championship. If one wants to obtain this skin solely through personal victories, one must have over 460 wins.

By the way, the display card for Neith’s “Diagnosis” skin has been redesigned. Who wouldn’t want to be treated by her?

Win Ravana or Dragon King Ao Kuang!

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. forums.smitegame.com

HearthStone: Freely to Legend

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time < 1 minutes

At HearthStone there have been many record attempts. Now a player wants to prove that one can reach the rank “Legend” in Blizzard’s card game – without using one’s hands.

Hands-free Gaming?

It is well known that gamers sometimes artificially make virtual pleasures more difficult. Especially in collectible card games, such challenges are common. Everyone has probably had the feeling against some opponents that the opponent is only playing with one hand or half attention. The streamer Billyisms goes one step further: He wants to reach the rank “Legend” without using his hands. How is this supposed to work? Billyisms has activated voice recognition and programmed it to directly execute his commands. You can see how seamlessly this works in this example video:

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This is not only a new challenge but could also represent a way for people who cannot use their arms to access HearthStone. A tutorial on how every player can set up voice recognition themselves is also in the works.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. pcgamesn.com

Hearthstone: New Card Back in July, Man

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In Hearthstone there is a new card back in July, dedicated to the trolls.

Hearthstone-Juli

The Darkspear trolls have a bit of a Jamaican vibe in the depiction from World of Warcraft. In the original English, it certainly comes across a bit better than in German. The card back for July is dedicated to the Darkspear, man.

To get it, not much is needed, just a few matches in ranked mode with constructed decks need to be won. Players must reach rank 20 by the end of July to get the card back.

By the way, the next round of Card Chaos in Hearthstone starts today. In the first week there were pre-built boss decks, in the second week players played with their own decks and threw bananas at each other. Who knows what the chaos will bring today.

We will deploy our best succubus for this.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Devilian – More TERA than Diablo

Andreas Bertits Andreas Bertits Reading time 3 minutes

Meanwhile, Trion Worlds officially announced that the mysterious new MMO is the highly anticipated Korean Online Hack-‘n’Slay Devilian.

When looking at the first Korean videos of the game, there isn’t much excitement initially. Devilian looks like a typical Diablo clone. In the role of one of four classes, you apparently hack through hordes of monsters, deal millions in damage points, collect vast amounts of items, and improve your hero. Everything seems familiar so far.

Devilian Screenshots

However, voices from those who have already been able to test Devilian speak a different language, as the MMO is said to be significantly different from Diablo and aim more towards an MMORPG – no wonder, as developers of the MMO TERA are behind the title.

But not a Diablo clone?

Devilian Artwork

This can be noticed in several aspects. For example, those who do not want to deal with the isometric view from above can simply switch to a third-person view and play Devilian like you would in other MMORPGs. Another point where this action RPG MMO differs from Diablo and Co. is the huge open game world. There are no small levels, but instead very large zones into which the world is divided.

Those expecting a click-fest in battles based on the videos will also be surprised. Because the battles in Devilian unfold a bit differently. Many combat skills consist of multiple phases. Phase one deals a certain amount of damage, phase two increases the damage and also brings a debuff, and phase three makes the opponent explode. By holding down the attack button, these three attack phases are executed. This makes Devilian play differently in battles compared to the continuous clicking of a Diablo.

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Diversity also comes into play as each hero can transform into the “Devilian Form.” When doing so, it’s like playing a second character. The Devilian Form can be customized alongside the regular form via an additional skill tree. Another customization option is the talismans that can be equipped and grant specific buffs.

PvE, PvP, and Guilds

On your journey through the world, you will explore many locations, including massive dungeons where you face boss monsters. There will be raids for up to nine players, as well as large PvP battles where 20 fight against 20 for control points. You can also participate in RIFT-like adventures. There should always be good opportunities to find other players. Typically, a group consists of three players. In addition, you may form guilds with other players and go to war against other guilds.

Devilian characters

A criticism that many see with Devilian is that it looks very Asian. Trion Worlds is aware of this and is currently working with the developers to make the version that is supposed to come out later this year in the USA and Europe a bit more Westernized. Moreover, the company claims to have learned a lot from the experience with ArcheAge and promises to do better with Devilian.

The free-to-play model will adhere to typical models known from similar games, featuring an in-game shop where you can purchase certain items such as costumes, mounts, or EXP potions. However, this is not necessarily required to have fun, according to Trion Worlds. The company intends to reveal much more about the game in the coming months, including how crafting works and what exactly to expect from PvP.

Devilian Screenshot

Andreas says: There seems to be more to Devilian than just a Diablo clone. The involvement of developers who have previously worked on the MMORPG TERA raises my interest. Perhaps it will be possible to actually combine MMORPG and Hack-‘n-Slay. From a graphical style perspective, however, Devilian should be made a bit more Western, as many may be deterred by the anime-like figures. However, the new information about the MMO makes it seem significantly more interesting to me.

https://youtu.be/PoxB7dwNgjw

Soon you will be able to take a look for yourselves: On the official website for Devilian, you can now register for the beta.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. mmorpg.com Beta-Tester-Bericht
  2. mmorpg.com
  3. mmobomb.com

Destiny: Are the Red Bull exclusive codes available in Germany?

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

For Destiny , there is a promotional campaign with Red Bull in the USA that promises exclusive bonuses to can buyers. Will it also come to Germany?

50% more experience for a short time and an exclusive quest, that is what the promotion from Red Bull and Destiny promises. This is currently only announced for North America and only for very specific markets in July.

This raises the question:

Will it also come to Germany?

As the German fan site Destinyblog reports: No. They wrote a letter to Red Bull, and their response was clear: The campaign will only be conducted in the USA. There are no plans to support it in Germany. Energetic greetings from Munich and so on.

It seems that here in Germany, one will have to do without the Red Bull promotion and thus the EXP booster and – worse – the exclusive quest, at least until January 1, 2016 – then it will be free for everyone.

Unless you get some codes from the USA: Streamers are already distributing them as giveaways for loyal viewers. In the meantime, there was also a “trick” circulating on how players could “obtain” such a code themselves. Through an error in the distribution matrix. But that looked pretty illegal.

Destiny-Red-Bull-Promo

Divided Reactions

The reactions to the “Red Bull” campaign seem to be divided, as can be seen from the reactions to our posts on the subject. A large part considers such “commercial deals” inappropriate. The game seems to “sell itself” in that sense, opening a dangerous door. What will come next with such sponsorship?

Aside from that, not every Destiny player is a fan of Red Bull. Especially for some football fans, that is a red rag. And Red Bull certainly does not have a “super-healthy and ideal for teenagers and children” image. Some worry that they might be introduced to the energy drink through such a campaign.

Others, especially young adult males, were excited about the campaign. They drink the stuff by the liter anyway, sometimes with a shot, expecting advantages.

Quite unremarkable: Gamespot unpacked a “gift” can from Activision, the code is under the flap, the items could not be redeemed at the time the clip was filmed:

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Internationally, Bungie already had to endure some mockery from colleagues for this.  How “good” the exclusive quest really is, we will only find out with the release of “The Taken King” in mid-September.

Well, maybe it’s better this way with the Red Bull… Who knows how excessive consumption fits with successful gameplay? Oh right, that’s right: The comic artists from Ctrl+Alt+Del know it…

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. destinyblog

Complaint Wednesday: Why the WoW patch 6.2 is really stupid

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 3 minutes

Hello, my dear companions in suffering. While I am melting here in the heat of the blazing sunlight, I am looking a bit sadly at a game that has captivated me for almost a decade now. But somehow, the current World of Warcraft Patch 6.2 has made the game as boring as never before. At least for me. And it should all be getting better…

The Tanaan Jungle: Grinding Without Purpose

Jungle Tanaan WoW Map
Tanaan: 8 Apexis grinding areas side by side. The fun lasted a full 5 hours.

I had been looking forward to the Tanaan Jungle for a long time. The story of Draenor was supposed to finally reach its climax and reveal the last secrets that needed to be solved. Unfortunately, the reality is different: All story quests can be completed in just about an hour, as there are only a handful of them. Sure, the garrison campaign continues every week, but it is not satisfying. What really bothers me, though, is that Tanaan is a loveless collection of grinding areas for Apexis Crystals.

For about an afternoon, it is exciting and new until you have killed all the rare spawns and looted the treasures. After that, the new zone is no different from all the other Apexis areas that Draenor already has. Daily quests also make their return in a way that frustrates me. It is not possible to accept all quests at once. Instead, the first task tells me: “Go to the Iron Harbor and kill 25 Orcs!” … alright, no problem! When I return from this task, a new mission awaits: “Go to the Iron Harbor and collect 15 sea maps from the Orcs!”

Seriously, Blizzard? You send me to the exact same area, to kill the exact same enemies twice? That has never happened even in Classic.

The Bonus Events: Intended as Motivation, Ended as Demotivation

Pet Battles are now only worth it every 7 weeks.
Pet Battles are now only worth it every 7 weeks.

The second very annoying point is the weekly bonus events that have now been introduced. While I find some features, such as timewalking, really nice and successful in presenting older content appropriately to newer players, other events ruin my enjoyment of the game.

To give an example: When I had “nothing to do” in WoW, I always liked to level my pets in pet battles. That way, I could pass half an hour, and I’m excited to see my pet score on warcraftpets.com slowly increasing. However, with the new patch, there is now an event that comes every 7 weeks and triples the experience from pet battles. My thought process should be clear now: Why should I level my pets now, when I can do it in a third of the time next weekend?

And that is exactly my criticism: If you introduce a bonus event for every available content, it means that these contents will only be approached during the times of this event.

Yrel peacefully alongside the Orcs. Why is Grom suddenly among the 'good'?
Gaps in the lore and a boring new area make the major patch 6.2 a disappointment for me.

I have not felt the desire to log into World of Warcraft for a long, long time. Tanaan has disappointed me. The new events have disappointed me. If they do not provide logical explanations for the current lore now, this was the worst patch in my WoW career – and that is long. Very long. Even patch 6.1 entertained me better. And it barely had only new pets in old raids and music tracks for the garrison.

What do you think? Do the new content motivate you? What do you think of Tanaan? Or am I just getting worked up (as always) completely unnecessarily?

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Strange – The leap second causes maintenance

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

Maintenance is required for the mega servers in the fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online due to the leap second.

“Yes, we are serious about this,” states the announcement regarding maintenance on the mega servers for The Elder Scrolls Online. The leap second that occurred from last night to today requires maintenance. Since the Earth is rotating slightly slower than it did 180 years ago, the clock did not go from 1:59:59 to 2:00:00 as usual, but instead to 1:59:60 and then finally to 2:00:00.

And for some reason, this now necessitates maintenance. This is peculiar because TESO has already been experiencing increased and lengthy maintenance after the console release, and fans are complaining about it. Now, it’s also due to leap seconds.

Xbox One players in Europe have just completed their maintenance. For PlayStation 4, maintenance started at 9:00 AM our time. PC players will have to briefly go without TESO starting at 10:00 AM. Around noon, the US servers will be affected.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Forum TESO

H1Z1: The world will end on Thursday, comes back with weaker bears [Update]

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In the survival MMO H1Z1 the apocalypse is postponed for two days, it will happen on Thursday.

It was originally scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, but it has been pushed back by two days: The next “apocalypse”, the next server wipe in H1Z1.

Normally, a new build goes to the test server on Thursday; the patch comes on Tuesday. Now the developers have reversed it, the test server was patched on Tuesday, and the live version is expected to be ready on Thursday.

H1Z1 in January, a lot has happened since then … but bears remain really nasty until Thursday

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The patch coming on July 2 includes another server wipe. Four new military bases are being added to the map. The map is changing: This necessitates a wipe.

The patch brings team battle royales for pre-made teams of 2 to five players. Additionally, the bears will be toned down. They have been true killing machines all along.

The RPG elements won’t be ready in June; they are expected to arrive in July: Then survivors will be able to choose a job they had before the Z-thing. This job is supposed to provide them with certain benefits.

Update: The patch is expected to arrive in the evening our time. Around 9:00 PM.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Destiny: July Iron Banner gives no rewards, only Anteater

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 2 minutes

On Tuesday evening, the Iron Banner, a PvP event, went live in Destiny. However, it is not working as it should. The rewards are significantly delayed, and there are also “Anteater” errors.

Normally, one would think that with the x-th version of the Iron Banner, hardly anything could go wrong, but that is not the case. Since 7:00 PM, the Iron Banner has been active and complaints are increasing across all platforms, whether PlayStation or Xbox: There are no “rewards” for the matches. It does not matter if you lose or win; the rewards just don’t come. And that’s what players are in the Iron Banner for.

At the moment, it seems that the rewards are available, but with a significant delay. Sometimes they appear during the next match – or players receive them when they switch to a new zone in Destiny.

Iron Banner-Jolder Hammer

These “Don’t worry, it’s just delayed” comments are, as often, relatively difficult to filter out from the many complaints that only lament about not getting anything at all. Therefore, one does not know whether the rewards are delayed for everyone or if some are actually playing “for nothing.” It may therefore be advisable to postpone the planned Iron Banner game for now.

Bungie is working on the Iron Banner issues

Bungie is already aware of the problem and is working to resolve it.

Meanwhile, the complaints are increasing that players are being kicked from the game with the “Anteater” error code… This is also a problem that only Bungie’s technicians can help with.

Malicious tongues might say that this is the revenge of the karma gods for the repeated exploitation of the Iron Banner glitch in Destiny. Now it’s not the Guardians who are glitching the Iron Banner, but the Iron Banner glitching the Guardians.  But surely no one wants to hear these malicious tongues now, especially not those whose mood is currently ruined by the bug.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

WoW: Less gold through garrison – especially twinkers are shouting

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 2 minutes

In World of Warcraft, the new patch 6.2 has quietly adjusted the gears that determine the players’ gold income. Especially the scrapyard is becoming less relevant, and second characters are also generating less money.

Twinks are paid less

Many players have leveled several characters to level 100 in recent months and equipped them with a garrison, aiming to cash in significantly alongside a level 3 inn. Various follower missions provided between 500 and 1000 gold pieces, often multiple times a week with a variety of characters. This inflation has now reached an end by reducing the gold income from the follower missions of the twinks.

The scrapyard is in shambles

The good goblin lady will probably be flying out of some people's garrison. And with what? Rightly so.
The good goblin lady will probably be flying out of some people’s garrison. And with what? Rightly so.

Another nerf has struck the scrapyard. According to Community Manager Bashiok, “every garrison had a scrapyard if done right.” The rewards were simply too good to pass up. After the changes, not every level 100 follower mission provides a reward bag, and the value of the items received from the scrapyard has been drastically reduced. Some players are particularly angry about this change, as patch notes promised that the value of gray items should remain the same. This has now proven to be a lie, presumably to prevent further “abuse” of the wealth-generating mechanic.

The gold increase has been massively restricted, which in turn will affect the purchase of WoW Tokens. Gold farmers will now likely be looking for new methods of profit.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. battle.net-WoW-Foren

Blade and Soul says all the right things about the Free2Play payment model

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 3 minutes

The Wuxia MMO Blade and Soul revealed its payment model last week and said all the right things.

Asia-free-to-play MMORPGs have a particularly bad reputation, using all tricks to squeeze money out of players. However, Blade and Soul is a big title in Asia. The publisher NCSoft is one from the front row. So, can it shake off the bad reputation that many games have earned for free-to-play models from Asia?

General suspicion of free-to-play titles, especially from Asia

Perhaps you know the scene from the movie “The Other Guys”, where the villain bribes the two quirky heroes with concert tickets and tickets for musicals and sports events. While he is doing this, he denies that he is bribing them by simply repeating: “No, this isn’t bribery. This isn’t bribery.”

BladeandSoul-Bedenken

It’s somewhat similar with the dreaded term “pay-to-win” in free-to-play games and their payment model. The nastiest psychological tricks can be applied. Players who invest a lot, so-called whales, can dominate like gods and roam through virtual worlds untouched – from the mouth of the PR department comes: “No, it is definitely not pay-to-win. Everything is optional. Everything is great.” In principle, every free-to-play title is announced like this: both fair and not so fair ones. No one says: Yes, sure, you can buy significant advantages. After all, we want to live off something.

Now, not every free-to-play game is equally guilty, but the games are at least under a general suspicion these days, especially if they come from Asia.

The tricky part is that regardless of what nice things are said in advance, one only has to decide in practice and then finally in the end game, after having invested much time: “Is this fair and kosher now? Do I want to engage with it, or does something smell fishy?”

BladeandSoul-Kampf

The essential points of the payment model for Blade and Soul

Last week, NCSoft sent out a press release for Blade and Soul. There, they outlined the main points of the payment model for the Wuxia MMORPG:

  • Every player will have access to all content, nothing is hidden behind a paywall, like in Lord of the Rings Online (or soon in TESO), where you have to pay to access new content
  • As a premium or cash shop currency, NcCoin will be used, which coins were already used in Aion. With them, players can buy so-called “convenience” items, such as experience potions or food, and also character and inventory slots. Additionally, there will be so-called “vanity” items, which are cosmetic stuff
  • In addition to NcCoins, there will also be a second currency that players can earn in the game and with which they can buy the items that are offered for NcCoins, that is, for real money
  • The more players buy things in the cash shop with NcCoins or the earnable currency, the higher their “premium rank” will rise. This premium rank is associated with increasing bonuses. NCSoft promises that these will not affect combat.
  • They want to regularly bring new game content
  • From summer, the game will be available for pre-order, probably with the “founder packs”
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NCSoft really says all the right things about the payment model of Blade & Soul

My MMO says: It sounds like a very fair payment model, especially at first glance, there seems to be no quasi-subscription being offered, as most other games do. At least none is mentioned. And the idea that: “Everything that can be purchased can also be earned” is always very positive.

How it will actually turn out can unfortunately only be said in practice. When one notices: “The game bombards me with items so much that I am almost forced to buy more inventory,” for example. Or if the “replacement currency” can only be earned very slowly. Experience has shown that even beta phases do not provide insight into the details here, and even at release, this cannot be said. Only over the months do free-to-play titles reveal their “true” face.

But this should not be a death knell: NCSoft actually has a very good reputation in this regard. Perhaps Blade & Soul will succeed in dispelling the reservations of fans regarding specifically Asian free-to-play games.

More about the title itself and the planned West port can be found here: All details about the West release – Censored or not? English translation?

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.

Neverwinter: Dragon in Flight – Rise of Tiamat starts today on Xbox One

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

Today on June 30th, the new expansion “Rise of Tiamat” for the action MMO Neverwinter starts.

From 4 PM, the servers will be down for two hours. When it resumes on Xbox One, “Rise of Tiamat” is supposed to be active: one of the 5 modules that Xbox One players are supposed to receive this year until they catch up to the PC version of the action MMORPG Neverwinter.

New gameplay content awaits to be conquered. The dragon goddess and her minions lurk in the new area Dragon’s Maw or in the dungeon “Temple of Tiamat.”

But this patch also brings other changes that PC players received last year. In the patch notes , the other changes to the game are detailed: Performance adjustments have been made, frame rates increased, many bugs fixed, and minor improvements made. A mini-map has also been added.

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And these 4 (+1) modules are still coming this year

4 more “older” modules are still set to release on Xbox One this year: Elemental Evil, Icewind Dale, Dreadring and Fury of the Feywild. These are modules 1, 2, 3, and 6. Currently, alongside the base game, there is Tyranny of Dragons, the PC module 4. And starting today, there is also Rise of Tiamat, module number 5. The two modules are linked in the story. And it seems Cryptic thought it best to start with the “Dragons” from “Dungeons and Dragons.”

For the PC version of Neverwinter, 2 new modules are also announced for 2015: Strongholds and Underdark. Complicated matter with the version confusion.

This should end soon. The aim is to quickly bring the Xbox One version up to the PC version’s standard. Xbox players should also receive Strongholds this year.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. XBox One Modul-Pläne

The Elder Scrolls Online: Connection Issues and Maintenance on Xbox One

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

There will be further maintenance on Xbox One for The Elder Scrolls Online on June 30.

A maintenance has now been announced for The Elder Scrolls Online and is currently underway. Since 3:15 PM, the European mega server for Xbox One has been down. How long the maintenance will last is unknown. It is said that one should expect at least “a few hours.”

The North American Xbox server has been down since 2 PM our time for similar reasons. The maintenance duration is estimated to be two hours.

TESO-Food

According to Zenimax, the maintenance is necessary to resolve “connection issues,” as stated. There were already difficulties over the weekend on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Maintenance was avoided here, even though it had already been announced.

Only on Monday were the login systems for both consoles down for maintenance for an extended period. Last week there were also several hours of maintenance on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 resulting in game time loss – unfortunately always in the afternoon and evening our time and thus during peak playing hours.

More about The Elder Scrolls Online can be found on our topic page.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Source(s):
  1. Forum TESO

Destiny: How to go Wolf-High-Servitor, the new Wanted Bounty Mission

Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time < 1 minutes

In the MMO shooter Destiny a new Wanted Bounty has been added with Petra Venj today. Here’s how Wolf High Servitor works.

On Tuesdays, new bounties have been coming to Destiny since “House of Wolves.” There are two types, and today another “Wanted Bounty” has been added. You don’t have to wait for events like with the Queen bounties. Just start the thing with Petra Venj and it’s time to hunt.

Destiny-Wolf-High-Servitor

Here’s how Wolf High Servitor works, the bounty leads to the Temple of Crota

The bounty today takes place on the Moon, specifically in the “Temple of Crota.” You need to take out a Servitor. It’s a bit hidden, but in this video from our friends at ProNDC, the way can be clearly seen and followed.

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Heroes of the Storm: New hero Butcher indulges in carnality

Cortyn Cortyn Reading time 2 minutes

The summer of Heroes of the Storm is all about Diablo and the Eternal Conflict. In addition to a Diablo battlefield, the developers will also present new heroes. The Butcher has now been given a gameplay preview.

One can learn a thing or two from him!

The Butcher is an antagonist from the Diablo universe with a notoriously bad reputation, having been the scourge of Tristram for over 20 years. His physique is massive. According to legends, he was assembled from the remains of other demons. This leads to him seeing all living beings merely as a collection of parts that he can process.

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In Heroes of the Storm, the Butcher is an Assassin and his corpse harvesting is reflected in his abilities:

  • Fresh Meat is his passive trait. It ensures that defeated minions leave behind one piece and defeated heroes leave behind three pieces of meat. When the Butcher collects them, the damage of his auto attacks increases each time – until he dies, then he loses all stacks.
  • The Hamstring is a long-range strike in a straight line that deals damage and slows affected enemies for a short time.
Heroes of the Storm Hots Butcher
Physically more of a warrior, but gameplay-wise an assassin.

With the Butcher’s Brand, the hero can mark another enemy for 5 seconds. Auto attacks against the marked enemy heal the Butcher for 75% of the damage dealt. If the marked target is an enemy hero, the healing received is doubled.

  • Ruthless Onslaught is very reminiscent of the Dragon Knight’s charge. The Butcher becomes unstoppable, charges at the targeted enemy, and does not stop until he reaches it (or the path is blocked by a wall). Upon reaching, damage is dealt, and the target is briefly stunned.
  • His first heroic ability is the Furnace Blast, which deals high area damage around the Butcher after a delay of 3 seconds. This ability can be activated during a Ruthless Onslaught to enable devastating ambushes.
  • Lamb to the Slaughter is the second heroic ability and binds an enemy hero to a chain. The victim can only move a few meters around the center of the chain for a few seconds and is thus trapped.

    • The Butcher is likely to be available starting tomorrow once maintenance is complete.

    More about Diablo’s summer can be found in this article.

    This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
    Source(s):
    1. polygon.com

    Guild Wars 2: Bring Your Personal Guild Logo into the Game!

    Cortyn Cortyn Reading time < 1 minutes

    In Guild Wars 2, with the expansion Heart of Thorns, the long-awaited guild halls return to the world of Tyria. The winners of a contest will soon find their own logo in the game world!

    A crest for heroes

    The guild halls are finding their way into the game. Who wouldn't want to see their own crest there?
    The guild halls are finding their way into the game. Who wouldn’t want to see their own crest there?

    Guild halls were a fixed part of the first Guild Wars; in the second installment, some players missed them sorely. With the first major expansion of Guild Wars 2, Heart of Thorns, the premises find their way back into the game. To celebrate the reintroduction of the halls, ArenaNet is holding a guild crest contest.

    The 5 most successful logos will be included in the game and can be worn in Tyria with the release of the addon. Additionally, there are other prizes such as T-shirts, art books, or in-game items.

    Anyone wishing to participate in the contest should carefully read the rules and requirements to avoid being disqualified later due to a violation. The crests must, of course, fit the Guild Wars 2 theme and must not be offensive. All details can be found in our sources.

    This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
    Source(s):
    1. massivelyop.com
    2. guildwars2.com/de

    Devilian is Trion Worlds’ new action MMORPG

    Andreas Bertits Andreas Bertits Reading time 2 minutes

    There has been much speculation. What is Trion Worlds currently working on? What new game is being announced? It is Devilian, a Korean action RPG that is reminiscent of Lineage Eternal or Lost Ark.

    In Korea, Devilian has been available for about a year and was initially very popular there. The hack n’ slash principle known from Diablo still appeals to many. Fighting hordes of monsters, finding cool new equipment, and continuously improving the hero.

    Devilian fully embraces these elements and spices it up with a very dark scenario revolving around demons. However, the development team drew more from Diablo 2 than from Diablo 3. Additionally, each hero can transform into a kind of devil form.

    PvE and PvP

    You create your hero from the classes Dualist (Tank), Elementalist (Mage/DPS), Shadow Hunter (Assassin), and Cannon Shooter (Ranged DPS). In Devilian, you explore many PvE dungeons, but PvP is also highly emphasized. There exists a battle mode where 20 players on one side face off against 20 players on the other side. Additionally, you will also fight huge boss monsters that you must defeat together, yet you also compete against each other to claim glory and loot.

    https://youtu.be/OxW_Q1MzFGU

    Trion Worlds has not officially confirmed yet that the new game is Devilian, but everything points to it.

    Devilian Artwork

    The artwork featuring the demon comes directly from Devilian. It is not yet known when the action MMO will launch in the “West”, but anyone who enjoys online games in the Diablo style should keep an eye on Devilian. How well it actually plays and whether Trion Worlds has hit the jackpot with the MMO is still to be seen.

    Andreas says: The current trend is moving away from complex, deep MMORPGs that require a lot of time investment. This is evidenced by the successes of online card games like Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft or MOBAs like Heroes of the Storm and League of Legends. Online hack n’ slashes fit excellently into this program.

    This could develop into the next big trend with Lineage Eternal and Lost Ark, and of course Trion Worlds wants to be on board right from the start. Therefore, it only makes sense to grab such a game and add it to their portfolio. How good Devilian really is, we will only see later.

    https://youtu.be/OqmmS3GRgHM
    This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
    Source(s):
    1. mmoculture.com

    Destiny: Weekly Dawn Strike, Prison of Elders and Variks on 30.6.

    Schuhmann Schuhmann Reading time 4 minutes

    In the MMO shooter Destiny there’s a new cycle on Tuesdays, including June 30th. What will be the new Nightfall strike? How is the Prison of Elders configured? What does the vendor Variks have in store?

    But it’s time to get back to the routine. Over the weekend, no disastrous interviews were given. Surprisingly, there hasn’t been any major fire to put out with energy drinks either. Everything is somewhat back to normal. Well, the Iron Banner unexpectedly starts this evening, but that’s not a reason for panic. Let’s get back to the bread and butter of Destiny, the weekly reset.

    Destiny-Phogoth

    Weekly Nightfall Strike is against the Ogre with a bad complexion

    This week’s Nightfall strike features Phogoth in the Summoning Pits. Modifiers are Juggler, Void Burn and Solar Burn. Guardians haven’t seen Phogoth in the Nightfall for quite a while. Last time was on March 24th.

    Destiny-Omnigul

    The heroic Weekly brings Omnigul back

    The heroic Weekly takes us back into Crota’s Will, facing Oryx’s daughter Omnigul. The modifier is Juggler. Omnigul was last the target of the heroic Weekly in Destiny 4 weeks ago.

    The Prison of Elders in Destiny starting June 30th

    Destiny-Urrox

    The 32-light Prison hosts Urrox

    The 32-light version of the Prison of Elders faces Urrox, a Knight of the Hive

    1. Hive/Trickle – Ability cooldowns are delayed
    2. Cabal/Small Arms – Primary weapons deal increased damage
    3. Cabal/Exposure – Guardian shields are fortified but do not regenerate
    4. Hive – Arc Burn
    5. Hive – Solar Burn
    Destiny-Qodron

    The 34-light Prison has a Vex problem

    In the 34-light Prison of Elders, the Guardians face the Vex, with Qodron returning with his hordes. Here we have prepared a guide, although Bungie has nerfed Qodron anyway. He was considered the strongest opponent in the 32/34-light configurations.

    1. Vex/Catapult – Grenades have a significantly lower cooldown
    2. Vex – Void Burn
    3. Fallen/Brawler – Guardians deal increased melee damage
    4. Vex/Small Arms – Primary weapon damage is doubled
    5. Vex/Trickle – Ability cooldown increased
    Destiny-Skolas

    Skolas, the Kell of Kells

    In the 35-light Prison of Elders, Skolas awaits the Guardians. Here we will have to be a bit patient until the modifiers for him and the 6th wave are available.

    Apparently, this week features Brawler/Juggler. This means the melee damage of the Guardians is increased, but no ammo drops for the weapon with which a kill is made.

    The path to him is always the same:

    1. Hive – Exposure/Brawler – Guardian shields are fortified, do not regenerate/ their melee damage is increased
    2. Vex – Ground/Airborne – Guardians deal increased damage in the air, but take more damage there
    3. Cabal – Catapult/ Arc Burn – Grenade cooldown is reduced, Arc damage is increased
    4. Fallen – Special/Juggler – Special weapons deal double damage, enemies do not drop ammo for the weapon with which they were killed
    5. Fallen – Trickle/Small Arms – Abilities have increased cooldown, primary weapon damage is significantly increased
    Destiny-Variks-Haendler

    What does Variks have in store?

    Variks is selling helmets and the scout rifle this week.

    The helmets increase recovery and super. For Titans and Hunters, it applies against the Fallen. For Warlocks against the Cabal.

    • The Warlock helmets have 60 intellect and 65 strength.
    • The Titan helmet has 113 discipline.
    • The Hunter helmet has 117 discipline.
    • Variks-Scoutgewehr-306

    Tips, tricks, and guides?

    In this section, we will present videos of successful runs throughout the day. They can help you deal with the challenges of this Destiny week. You can learn from them or simply be entertained.

    The team at Nexxoss Gaming tackles the Nightfall with Phogoth. With the two burns, it’s a much more rustic affair than it used to be. Nexxoss suggests going all Solar and recommends Abyss Defiant.

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    Here we go against the new Skolas. The fight has become significantly longer and more tactical since Bungie’s patch. With positional changes and boss mechanics.

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    If you want to know why you’re putting yourself through the Prison of Elders, this article will help you understand: Destiny Guide: Treasure Keys, Treasure Chamber, Loot, and You – Loot in the Prison of Elders

    If you’re looking for a group for the challenges, you might want to check out our article on finding groups in Destiny.

    This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.