With the upcoming arena shooter from Blizzard, Overwatch, hints of another hero have surfaced, who is likely to appear at PAX East in Boston.
It would be much more exciting if Overwatch had already been released and we were all playing it like crazy, but even so, there are indications that Blizzard is filling the roster of playable characters. Tomorrow PAX East in Boston is approaching, where they aim to provide information on HotS, Hearthstone and also Overwatch – and likely introduce two new heroes for the new shooter. The first seems to be a Russian weightlifter (because… why not?), the second could be a cowboy who writes about his secret identity as a vigilante in his normal identity.
This is at least evident from this tweet, which shows a newspaper article. Here, the fictional columnist “Joel Morricone” writes about a strangely anachronistic cowboy who, in a “post-Overwatch” world (where the heroes are gone), takes the law into his own hands. As reported by 2p.com, Blizzard once introduced a “Joel” cowboy character. Well, if that doesn’t awaken the inner Sherlock.
An insider’s view provides insights into the early days of the MMO shooter Destiny. At the GDC conference, Bungie employee John Hopson explained the story of the loot cave. It was closed due to user complaints.
The loot cave, the treasure cave, is a contentious topic. When it was closed back then, players got the impression: “Bungie wants us to play Destiny the way they want, not the way we want!” From Bungie’s perspective, they were just responding to the will of the players.
Loot cave was a distraction and a bone of contention
John Hopson is responsible for user research at Bungie. This means he analyzes the data and tells the developers how the game is being used. And it was being used as planned in the early phase after launch.
Players engaged in a variety of activities, everything was fine. But then they started blasting away in a cave for hours! And that’s when the trouble began. Players reported each other for “cheating” because they were using the so-called loot cave.
Some were so annoyed by this behavior that they stood in the cave to block the spawn. That player was then reported by others who wanted to use the loot cave. It was a mess. Reports reached peak levels at Bungie.The cave had to be closed.
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The loot cave simply didn’t make mathematical sense, but players are not mathematicians
Bungie was aware of the loot cave before the release. They calculated it and concluded that the loot cave simply wasn’t worth it, as there were fewer drops compared to pursuing other activities in the game. But the players didn’t calculate that.
To them, the loot cave seemed like a big “distraction” that pulled them away from other activities.
Metal detectors and random drops
Hopson shares a few more anecdotes from the early days of Destiny:
Before the release, to prevent a leak of Destiny, they set up metal detectors, confiscated phones, and didn’t let anyone play the game alone. In hindsight, that was probably excessive.
At Bungie, they thought that random loot and engrams would play a minor role. They believed players would simply buy better gear after a while and that the random rewards would be perceived only as a bonus. However, after launch, it was quite the opposite, the random loot system took center stage, and that changed the perception of the game.
The most challenging missions for players turned out to be situations like in “The Chamber of Night”. There, players are enclosed in a room and must defeat waves of enemies. This is a skill check because there is no save point between the waves that the Guardians must overcome, and they can’t retreat: “Either you are good enough to survive, or not.”
During the Bungie presentation, audience members ask about loot
One person in the crowd stood up to complain to Hopson that after 700 hours he still hadn’t gotten a Gjallarhorn. Hopson replied that one just had to have bad luck.
Another audience member complained that Xur always sold “No Land Beyond.” That was beyond his influence, Hopson’s response.
Well, what would a conversation about Destiny be without someone complaining about loot or Xur.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A supposed employee of Turbine is now revealing internal information about his work on the MMO The Lord of the Rings Online in a forum.
This is likely the dream of many players: to be a fly on the wall and hear what is really going on behind the scenes in their favorite MMO, what is happening in the hallowed halls. Normally, you never find out. It’s rare for someone like Marc Jacobs to speak plainly after the end of Warhammer Online.
In the story regarding The Lord of the Rings Online, there is currently no evidence that everything played out as a forum user named “Aylwen” describes. However, what he says is credible and he posts numerous images from a former life as a QA employee at Turbine, where he was responsible for quality assurance.
Deal with Warner Brothers was a pact with the devil
The key statements Aylwen makes revolve around the deal with Warner Brothers, which sent LOTRO down the free-to-play path. The team did not like this at all. It was described as a “pact with the devil.” However, it was desperately needed as The Lord of the Rings Online, although it seemed outwardly successful, was struggling significantly as a subscription MMO. They reportedly had dropped to 85,000 subscribers in the USA by March 2010 before switching models.
LOTRO was certainly ailing when they made the call to go f2p. We all assumed it would happen eventually but not so soon. In March or thereabouts in ’10 an email went out from Crowley stating that LOTRO’s US subs were down to around 85k (the only time specific sub numbers were ever mentioned even in-house while I was there) and could we maybe ask our friends to try the game? But nobody wanted the f2p thing. It basically said, yeah our game sucks so bad we won’t even ask you to pay for it. We knew our community was the best thing we had going for us and knew we were going to substantially lose that when the f2p floodgates were thrown open.
After that, Turbine cut costs wherever possible, resulting in the loss of many talents. Later, Turbine got sidetracked: they attempted to develop a Harry Potter MMO that they wanted to make appealing to WB (who holds the rights) and briefly developed LOTRO for consoles. Neither worked out and it cost manpower and millions.
Turbine’s biggest asset was its crazy bold ambition: we had less than 200 people in reconverted warehouse space behind a car dealership putting out 3 MMOs when ZOS, where I worked for a year, could barely put out one with far more money and resources. But it was also its biggest downfall. We tried to do too much with too little, attempting the LOTRO console game, building a proprietary downloader (Propel), mock ups of a Harry Potter MMO to woo WB…all of which soaked up bodies and millions and came to nothing.
Later, “Infinite Crisis” then, the attempt to enter the MOBA market, caused further high costs and dealt what Aylwen sees as the death blow to Turbine, because it was insanely expensive to develop and the MOBA market was already saturated. Additionally, they relied on a campaign on Twitch, which also went nowhere. Aylwen claims to have heard this from a colleague; he himself was no longer working at Turbine:
So, infinite crisis was costing 4mil a month to make. And they dumped all their marketing budget into a ‘twitch’ campaign….which is a new sorta web thing where you can watch people play games…..and unless you are Korean and playing starcraft, no one gives two fucks about. It resulted in Infinite Crisis peak concurrency being….less than 1,000 people. Hell most people had no inkling the thing even came out.
In a series of forum posts, Aylwen also airs dirty laundry. He is especially unhappy with the “management” and the “content designers,” while he praises some of his colleagues. Aylwen’s pet project was, by the way, the Ettenmoors, the special PvP of The Lord of the Rings Online. However, even at its peak, it only interested at most 7% of the players, making it difficult to justify allocating further resources for it. He also provides a reason as to why no new PvE content like raids is coming now, stating that this has nothing to do with player will, but simply that there are not enough resources left to manage it.
Then there’s the old (to use the Aussie expression) baffle with bullshit strategy: rather than just admit, ‘we simply don’t have the resources to make new raids/revamp pvmp/etc’, they hold up metrics data and say, ‘well nobody raids anyway, so it isn’t a priority…we’re just reacting to player trends!’
Blizzard as a terror of the MMO scene
According to the insider, some at Turbine also believed that Blizzard had a bit of a grudge against them. The major WoW patches coincided with updates for LOTRO, and internally, they suspected a mole.
Something not widely recognized about Blizzard outside the industry is their ferociously competitive nature. No competitor is too seemingly small to be ignored. We ourselves found that constantly WoW would schedule their periodic updates to coincide with our own. This occurred with such regularity that it was absolutely believed within the company that we had a leak passing along information. One might dismiss this as being rather akin to self-flattery on our parts but Blizzard’s crush all comers philosophy was generally accepted fact in my experience.
And he also has something to say about The Elder Scrolls Online
In the meantime, Aylwen shares that he also worked for Zenimax on ESO. This was initially planned for spring 2012. But at that time, they didn’t even have anything remotely resembling it.
This is what happens when half the team thinks they are working on a single-player game and the other believes they are making the next WoW, as he says.
My MMO thinks: The statements appear plausible, the photos support credibility. However, even if he is who he claims to be, this is of course a single opinion and does not necessarily correspond to the thin concept we call “truth”. So please take these statements with caution.
In the fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online, Update 6 has gone live today after a long wait. Zenimax is celebrating this with its own trailer.
What has Tamriel been missing so far? Apparently murder, robbery, a new tutorial, and a better progression system after level 50. Because all of this and much more is coming with Update 6. It is so large that it deserves its own trailer, orbiting around the update.
Here at mein MMO, we have at least accompanied and introduced a good portion of the content that went online today since about last summer, so it’s nice to let the images speak. So here is the trailer from Zenimax for the important new update in TESO.
A player has now figured out how to only receive heavy ammo in Destiny. However, it requires some complicated preparation.
It’s actually quite logical, as the Reddit user izzray explains: When you kill enemies, ammo drops in Destiny. Because the game has to give you something. Which ammo drops is then weighted differently. The player wants “heavy ammo” because it has the most impact. However, it is the rarest.
How does everything turn purple?
So the question is: How can you ensure that you only get ammo for the primary weapon and the special weapon, leaving only heavy ammo?
Step 1 is simple: You need the exotic sniper rifle “Icebreaker”, then according to the user, there will be no special ammo anymore. Although this is already being strongly disputed.
How do I remove the primary weapon in Destiny?
The second problem is significantly harder because the game does everything to prevent the Guardian from being without a primary weapon. There are a thousand little tricks active to ensure that the “normal” ideas do not work. For example, you have to use the starting rifle, otherwise it won’t progress, and from then on, you always have something in your hands and can never be completely unarmed.
However, the reddit user has now found a way: The legendary auto rifle “Eidolon Ally” is known to transform into the exotic weapon Necrochasm. Since it is not possible to carry two exotic weapons at the same time (and you already have the Icebreaker), the player actually puts the “Necrochasm” that emerges from the Eidolon into the inventory. They “forcefully drop the weapon”, and now Destiny tries to hand you another weapon from the inventory. If you now have 9 other exotic primary weapons, you walk around without a primary weapon, but with the Icebreaker and a heavy weapon of your choice. Then you have achieved the goal you wanted: It can now only drop heavy ammo, izzray writes.
The most luxurious glitch of all time?
This means: Heavy ammo drops like crazy and you can run amok with a rocket launcher or a machine gun. The whole thing works even better as a Titan, the user writes, because you can additionally wear Ruin Wings. He says that with unlimited heavy ammo, Roc Strikes are possible in 4 minutes.
This is probably really the “most luxurious glitch” of all time, because you not only need 9 exotic primary weapons and the Icebreaker, but also a fully upgraded Eidolon Ally and the Crux of Crota, but apparently the results are truly worth it.
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By the way, the user is not quite sure whether 9 exotic primary weapons are really necessary for the trick or if it could also work with blue engrams, in which case it would be significantly easier to achieve. He hasn’t dared to try it out. Understandably. Under the guide, there is already lively discussion about the “Icebreaker”; it is said that while green ammo, i.e. special ammo, would still drop, you just can’t pick it up. Nevertheless, the video seems to support the method.
What do you think?
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Actually, I just wanted to stay in bed today, sleep, and recover from this extremely annoying flu. However, since my boss is an absolute demon hater, he dragged me out of bed with the glorious sentence “No article, no cookies.” So here I am, and I could dedicate an entire complaining Wednesday to the glory of flu waves.
Oh well, Cortyn! Think of something nice. Something fun. How about balloons and great music? Like a fair…
And the Darkmoon returns monthly
Yes, yes. I know, I know. The Darkmoon Faire in World of Warcraft has already felt my wrath a few months ago. Back then it was about fiery circles, today it’s about two problems.
I secretly hoped that they had learned from the startup mess of “Firebird’s Challenge” where you could only achieve the coveted toy achievement by exploiting a bug or taking advantage of other players. Unfortunately, that is not the case. With the current patch, they introduced a new achievement for the minigame “Tonk Commander,” which is very, very hard to accomplish alone.
Instead of the usual 30 targets, you now have to hit 45 – this means you have about 1.5 seconds per target. The catch: You can hit other players’ targets. They are invisible, but your tank automatically targets them as soon as you get too close. Thanks, Blizzard! Finally back to waiting to ruin a few people’s days to get my toy!
Stretching content instead of delivering it
The new race at the fair is quite fun – the first three rounds. It feels a bit like Mario Kart. Just without opponents. And without items. After you finally secured the coveted achievement after an estimated 300 attempts (Yes, I collect these things!), you gleefully flip through the big achievement catalog and see: There are three more achievements for the race.
To achieve these, you would have to use different mounts than what is currently offered. But no worries! Blizzard has, of course, immediately clarified in a forum post: Every month there will now be a different mount for the racetrack. Slowly but surely, this is making me angry.
I can somewhat understand that quests and raid content want to be stretched out over several months – but now achievements too? Next, they probably want to introduce a single quest line over multiple patches that grants a single item as a reward – wait a minute…
And with these words, I’m back in bed. Wake me up when the fair is back. My collecting addiction will force me to accept that again.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The team shooter Evolve is getting one of the first free additions called the “Observer Mode.” This is primarily meant to facilitate streaming Evolve.
Gaming is fun, but watching is also not bad. This has been known since League of Legends. Many enjoy sitting in front of the monitor, munching on chips, and complaining with a mouth full of food that the AD carry missed the last hit due to a slight mouse slip, while they themselves struggle to get chips from the bag into their mouths without incident. Watching happens in part in League of Legends itself, but also through the popular platform Twitch. There, shoutcasters take on the role of “commentators.” This Twitch experience of being explained by a hysterically shouting stranger what exactly one is watching is something that they want to enhance with a free update for Evolve.
And you can also watch Daisy in Evolve
The “Observer Mode” is set to be part of Turtle Rock’s Evolve, as announced in a press release. A sixth player can take on the role of a spectator in a full game, can assume any of the five perspectives (even Maggie’s dog Daisy) and there is an additional screen with information to help viewers follow the action more easily. The interface has been accordingly modified. There is even a statistic that pretends to scientifically calculate the survival chances of hunters and monsters… Mister Data style!
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The mode is primarily for shoutcasters who want to broadcast and commentate an exciting game between a monster and 4 hunters via stream without playing themselves. So to speak, for the Marcel Reifs of Evolve. Another step towards eSports or at least a Twitch favorite.
There is no exact date for when the Observer Mode will arrive. One can perhaps assume that the Observer Mode will come with the announced balance patch.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
Enthusiastic Minecraft architects have now recreated a raid in Destiny, the “Darkness Lurks” raid Crota’s End. They even built the cheese spots.
A video from the channel “Rooster Teeth” takes viewers on a virtual tour of the crib of Oryx’s son, Crota: The raid has been recreated with great attention to detail. It is said that they even considered the exploits and cheese spots to avoid the difficult parts. A hobby that Destiny players indulge in excessively.
The two commentators have themselves played Destiny and explored the raid and are now visibly enjoying walking through this pixelated world. It creatively and cleverly captures the aesthetics of the raid and the look of Destiny.
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There is still no date for this balance patch, but it looks like it won’t be long now. In the Evolve forum, co-founder Phil Robb mentions that they’re doing the final polishing:
We’re currently putting the final touches on the next patch. More details coming soon, can’t give any specifics yet.
Another co-founder of Turtle Rocks, Chris Ashton, mentions that the patch is currently in the testing phase. It’s hard to estimate when it will be released. Sometimes it goes very quickly, sometimes a patch may roll back from this phase and then further work needs to be done:
Patch is in testing. Gotta run it through the wringer. Sometimes things get through testing really fast, sometimes they keep getting kicked back because additional problems are discovered so I don’t have an ETA. Just wanted to confirm it’s in the works!
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
With the next patch on Wednesday, March 10, new Obsidian weapons will be introduced in ArcheAge.
The sandbox MMO ArcheAge will bring most likely on March 10 the new patch “Secrets of Ayanad” to the live servers. A key component of the update will be Obsidian weapons, particularly the process of “upgrading” them.
In a feature on the ArcheAge website, the new producer of the game, Merv Lee Kwai, discusses this. A series of quests will guide players through the crafting process of their first Obsidian weapon. First, you will need the salvaged version of a glorious weapon and materials from the creatures of Auroria. From these, you will craft a first-tier Obsidian weapon that immediately bonds with the player.
This weapon can then be upgraded five times. The goal lies in the sixth and ultimate tier; Trion Worlds describes the path to this as follows:
– The components needed to create and upgrade Obsidian weapons can be found from Lv51+ creatures in the SunGold Fields, Exeloch, and the Diamond Coast. – Furthermore, it is known that the inhabitants of the Ayanad Library carry materials that can be used for the first upgrades. – The components required for the ultimate upgrade of an Obsidian weapon can be found from extremely challenging library bosses and notorious creatures throughout Erenor. – At each upgrade level, a salvaged weapon will also be required.
Owning such a weapon, it is said, marks the end of a long and arduous journey that only the most determined would complete.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The neutral panda “Doubleagent” has reached level 100 in the MMORPG World of Warcraft in the peaceful manner that the game allows: by herbalism.
When he reached 90, there were even big articles on the online pages of the mainstream media: “World of Peacecraft” it was called. It was somehow described as an act of rebellion. Someone simply refuses to follow the prescribed paths, doesn’t slay monsters but gently picks flowers and slowly moves forward. Kind of the Gandhi among WoW players.
For most WoW players, it is just an insane curiosity, as they can estimate the amount of time that must go into playing this way. And one wonders: Can it really be fun? Is it really worth that little bit of attention?
Now he has become level 100, hasn’t seen Draenor, stayed on his panda starter island, and continued to diligently pick herbs.
— DoubleagentMannoroth (@NeutralAgent) March 4, 2015
It is about Doubleagent, probably the craziest WoW player. He set himself the goal of reaching the maximum level without choosing a faction as a neutral starting panda. This way, he remains trapped on the Pandaren starter island and can only collect tiny doses of EXP by picking herbs. While for a “normal” player the path from 90 to level 100 takes a few days of casual play, Doubleagent had to struggle several hours daily from November until now to reach level 100. He documented his progress on his Twitter channel. He reached level 99 around February 23, 98 on the 11th.
— DoubleagentMannoroth (@NeutralAgent) March 4, 2015
It is already ironic that with the patch 6.1. introduced a benefit for him just a few days ago. Now he could wear the heirloom armor, which increases the experience gained, and now it is available directly from the tab and not as before from the mailbox. He never had access to that before: there is no mailbox on the starter island.
However, it seems that this time he not only “herbed” as from 85 to 90, but also leveraged a trick to gain EXP from pet battles. At least, this is heavily discussed in the relevant forums. A statement from the player is still pending. Well, it’s still an impressive achievement and no one can dispute the title “first factionless at 100”. Even Blizzard employees congratulate him.
In Destiny, a group of “Titans” has found a particularly unusual method to get through a part of the raid “Crota’s End”.
We are slowly entering the area: “And I thought I had seen everything in Destiny videos,” but no, there are still creative ideas that can surprise even experienced players and perhaps elicit a smile.
Titans are, as we now know, a very special breed. But usually, it’s the Punch Bros,who are known for spectacular and quite strange actions. In this video, a group of Bubble Bros, who usually always support, had the idea to stay among themselves and run through the Thrall Passage in Crota’s End in a duck march while simultaneously laying a tunnel of bubbles.
So they set the rule for themselves: We only move as a group within Titan bubbles … a rather interesting idea with an even more interesting result. All 6 Titans were wearing the Helm of Saint-14, by the way.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The team at Storybricks is closing down after being unable to find a “home” for the technology fans hoped would revolutionize MMOs.
Storybricks had been a company for five years, primarily tasked with providing the necessary technology for the upcoming MMORPG Everquest Next to usher MMOs into a new era. They promised that the AI would lead to NPCs that behave more naturally and follow their own routines, responding to dynamic events. However, SOE, the company behind Everquest Next, fell into financial trouble in recent years and was sold by Sony to the investment group Columbus Nova and subsequently separated from Storybricks.
They now see no way to monetize their technology, and the extensive traveling required for the job alongside recent developments have led to the closure of Storybricks, as the founders want to focus on other projects. They had been searching for a buyer or a project, even outside of games, but found nothing. The closure of Storybricks was not due to SOE (now DGC) parting ways with them. They had anticipated this step for a long time.
Storybricks is still looking forward to Everquest Next. Most of the work they have done revolved around Everquest Next, and thus belongs to DGC as well. It can still be reused. They are curious about how the technology they have been working on will appear in a game. The layoffs should not hit the employees too hard. Since they saw it coming for months, all those affected have apparently found new jobs by now.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
A long time ago, a few months before the official release in August 2012, I started to become interested in Guild Wars 2. I also made videos about the game back then, but of course I also played it myself.
Since the launch, I have roamed through Tyria for a few months, leveled a character to max level, played at least the other classes (except for the Guardian) and even played a few others to level 40 or 50. But at some point, I also left this MMO.
However, never permanently. Guild Wars 2 is the game that I keep returning to from time to time and check in every few months to see the current state. Then I play it again for a few months and then take a break. Now is one of those times to return.
– Darion
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the MMO shooter Tom Clancy’s The Division video material circulated in the last hours from the pre-alpha. Ubisoft responded harshly: They want to show something only when they are ready.
On Monday, Ubisoft is supposed to have presented The Division at GDC 2015, an industry trade show; many are waiting for reports on it, but it seems everyone is keeping quiet as there is nothing to report.
The leak comes from elsewhere. Vg247.it were apparently the wrongdoers: They received material from an early alpha and published it with a YouTube video. However, the YouTube video was quickly taken down.
In a statement to videogamer.com they stated: These are a video and several low-resolution images originating from an internal pre-alpha test to evaluate server performance. This version lacked numerous features and is by no means representative of the finished game.
These low resolution images and video originate from a pre-alpha test currently organized by the development team to evaluate the server infrastructure in a real world setting. A large portion of the game features have been removed in this build and therefore is not representative of the game’s current quality.
They are eager to show players more. But only when they are ready.
Mein MMO says: Yes, we have seen it too, and it does indeed look as ugly as Ubisoft’s harsh reaction suggests.
However, the consistent and quick response of the French did not help much: The video has already spread on other channels, and images circulating on Imgur now too. The internet does not forget, and everyone has ugly youth photos with mustaches, weird hair, and/or badly colored clothes – and now there are some from The Division, which will probably never be completely erased.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In the fantasy MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online, update 6 is set to arrive tomorrow. It will weigh between 20 and 25 gigabytes. The patch notes could more accurately be called a patch book.
If it’s taking too long …
Most patch notes can be quickly grasped, while those from The Elder Scrolls Online require quite a bit of scrolling, or better said, they might give you a callus on your index finger. It has turned out to be over 30,000 words, but don’t worry: it’s all well-organized and easy to read with clickable sub-sections. Here are the patch notes for update 6 in German.
Update 6 is expected to be deployed tomorrow at 4:00 AM. It will be between 20 and 25 gigabytes depending on the system. This can take quite some time. The US server has been patched for several hours and is still down. This is dragging on quite a bit. Who knows when we can access the servers in Europe on Wednesday. It is likely that on Wednesday, March 4th, the servers will be unreachable throughout the morning.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
In Bungie’s MMO shooter Destiny, clever players have discovered a new farming spot that seems to be a clear programming error: countless Thralls spawn, but they do not resist.
Farming spots and loot caves have a long tradition in Destiny , as there was a real hype about it at the beginning, until Bungie put a stop to it. Even today, farming spots are interesting, but not as attractive anymore, as Strikes, Nightfalls, and Raids have become significantly more lucrative. Nevertheless, there is still interest in good spots, for example to level weapons, farm Glimmer, or complete certain missions or bounties.
The latest tip in Destiny involves a number of programming errors, and those who prefer “clean” gameplay should stop reading here.
The farming spot for those who find “moving” too strenuous
Okay, if you are still here: Last week, Patch 1.1.1 also brought a bit of new data for “House of Wolves”. Since this patch, there is now a spot at one of the “not finished” locations on Earth where countless Thralls spawn, just standing around and letting themselves be killed. Or this spot has existed all along, and no one discovered it before.
This is therefore an ideal spot to comfortably complete achievements, such as “Kills without dying” or specific weapon achievements.
The glitch is easy to duplicate. Players need to start the mission “The Dark Within” on Earth on “Easy (Level 3)” and then follow this video. The only difficult part is getting up there, after that … well. Two players are recommended to “manage” the spot.
One can assume that Bungie will fix this bug or glitch relatively quickly.
In English, this is called the “Infinite Thrall Glitch”
Here you can see the full video, including the way to the farming spot:
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In Guild Wars 2 there was a playtest for the expansion “Heart of Thorns,” the reactions are quite positive, though one should not expect miracles.
ArenaNet invited representatives from various media outlets to a playtest to get a first look at the expansion “Heart of Thorns.” MassivelyOp accepted the invitation, for example, and reports somewhat positively about it. There hasn’t been much to see yet. However, what has been seen has been quite pleasing. The competing site mmorpg.com even called their article about the event “Playing Guild Wars 2 is like coming home.” The tone seems to agree.
Above all, the Revenant particularly impressed the tester from Massively. He could stand in the fire during the Wyvern fight until he burned, then he absorbed the flames with his demon skill to turn them into buffs. The class’s flexibility transformed an initially vague interest (“Well, another class with heavy armor”) into genuine anticipation (“My new favorite class!”).
The PvE aspect in the jungle felt like it could excite fans of jumping puzzles and exploration, although the story seemed to lack pull. The masteries felt like more of what GW2 already offers. More applause was received for the new Stronghold mode, which indeed had aspects of a MOBA where more focus had to be on objectives than on ramming the axe into the opponent’s back.
Everything sounds quite positive, as far as a short test (the demo lasted 60 minutes) allows. It seems that Heart of Thorns is heading towards a gentle evolution and does not intend to reinvent the game.
Oh, and he also brought this cinematic with him:
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In World of Warcraft, there are more details about paying for game time with real money: This way, players will be able to buy game time with gold even without an account. Blizzard bases the price on WoW gold sellers.
In an interview with Venture Beat, lead designer Ian Hazzikostas reveals more details about how the tokens will work, the coins that can be redeemed for 30 days of play:
The token will be sold in the auction house for a “fixed price”; there are no auction house fees for buyers or sellers, and no auction in the traditional sense.
The price is not set by players but rather by Blizzard’s system – depending on supply and demand, the token price will rise or fall.
The tokens, or coins, are soulbound and can only be posted in the auction house or, if bought there, be used by the buyer. It is not possible to trade or destroy them.
The price is based on gold sellers, and the coin takes the auction out of the “auction house”
The initial price is based on what gold sellers offer, and then supply and demand take over. Yes, Blizzard looks at the bad guys.
At the moment a player posts a token, they already know how much gold they will get: namely, what the system indicates at that moment. And they only receive that gold, even if the item is “sold for more” later. This way, “artificial” new gold enters or disappears from the system. That’s acceptable for Blizzard. It should not be like a regular auction where players post a token and no one buys it, forcing them to re-list it or something – instead, the tokens are sold “in order” and adjust, without any action from the player, to the current price, without disadvantage to the poster.
The system is expected to arrive soon, with a mini-patch first on the test server and then as quickly as possible in the live version of World of Warcraft.
There is a strong awareness of the potential risks of such a program; they have not forgotten about the real money auction house in Diablo 3, and they anticipate attempts to exploit the new system. Therefore, they are monitoring it closely and want to prevent potential abuses in the design phase.
Yes, they borrowed the idea from EVE Online, which was a pioneer in this area, and Blizzard also paid close attention when WildStar tried this with CREDDs. Blizzard monitors what other games do, thinks about whether it fits their own game, and considers how they can adapt it for their own players’ benefit.
It may happen that the system affects other areas – the impression should not be given that players can buy the best items in the game for “real money.” That is something they want to avoid at all costs. Therefore, they will take another look at the black market auction house. Such a thing could theoretically be possible there after the introduction of the system.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
The SF-MMO Star Trek Online is now redesigning its entire world, the sector space, in a large operation.
Under the brilliant title “Shaka, when the walls fell” there is a long dev blog entry from the developers of Cryptic Games, who explain in detail how the redesign of the sector space is supposed to turn out.
At the moment there are many “relatively small” systems, and as soon as you fly into another one, there is a delay when crossing the borders. Cryptic Games wants to change that and have only three “large zones”: The Alpha, Beta, and Delta Quadrants. To make it nicer, 350 systems are being rearranged (yes, they are moving worlds, that’s what designers do at STO), based on the star atlas by Geoffrey Mandel (which is considered quasi-canon) and arranging the sectors in a quadrant in a square manner. Some new systems like Betazed are also being added by the world builders.
When merging all sectors of the quadrants, we wanted to avoid any annoying corners or invisible walls, so each map received additional sectors to make them a large rectangle. The Delta Quadrant was already rectangular, so it did not receive any new sectors. However, all sectors of the Delta Quadrant were also merged into one map.
The universe is big … really big … essentially gigantic!
The designers face the problem that the real universe in a video game would be quite boring because it is so vast that the inhabited planets and the area where action would take place would be extremely dispersed. And a spaceship would hardly be recognizable in space; one would have to sit with a magnifying glass in front of the PC. So they are looking for compromises between “canon” and this strange concept of “reality” and fun gameplay.
So, the universe is big. Really big. You wouldn’t believe how incredibly huge it is. And of course, we cannot reflect that in our game.
In the redesign of the universe, the aim is to make flying around in space feel more impressive. This is achieved, for example, by changing relationships: The spaceship no longer appears larger than a planet in space.
Result: The space compared to your ship is now much larger than before. Your Intrepid is no longer a giant next to Earth, and space is now much ROOMIER.
This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.
